RWBY: The Hunter from Earth
by Tri4ceAwsmness
Summary: My first fic ever and it's a SI/OC centered story. I hope it is different from the usual ones you've read. The fic takes place about seven years before the events of RWBY. Details inside. Rated for language/violence/suggestive themes. OOC!Cinder. Reviews appreciated. CP created by me.
1. It Started with the Package

**RWBY: The Hunter from Earth**

 **Chapter 1: It Started with the Package**

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 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth. I own nothing but myself.**

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 **Hey There Guys and Gals! TTOA here with my first Chapter! I will have difficulty uploading these due to summer classes kicking my ass. I am now using a new way to type up my Chapters (I used Word, but I am now using OpenOffice). I hope this Chapter turns out well. Let's get to it!**

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 **(January 24, 2016) Decided to change the formatting of the Chapters. There will be more updates done to my other stories as well.**

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"Speech"

 _Thought_

 _ **Opening Narration**_ (but some chapters will be a recap of the previous chapter based on my _Log_ )

 **Emphasis**

X-X-X – Scene change

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 _ **Now this would be the part where I tell you my back-story as to who exactly I am and what I do. But it wouldn't be a good story if I gave you all of my information about me in only a few chapters. Here is what I will say; if you were to tell me that I would become a warrior to fight creatures of darkness, I would laugh in your face at your stupidity. My life was pretty average, until the package came.**_

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 **Earth – Unknown day.**

 _Damn I'm bored._ I am currently sitting in my parents' house with nothing to do. Most of my friends were busy and I had played Skyrim for about four hours straight before I got bored. I got up out of my leather chair I dubbed the Spy-Action-Movie-Villain-Chair or SAMVC (pronounced sam vick). I decided to go in my room and write in my journal (THIS ISN'T A DAIRY! IT'S A LOG). After a quick write I placed it in my pocket sat in my bed for about two minutes.

"I should go for a walk around the neighborhood," I mumbled to myself in the empty house. With my journal still in my pocket, I decided to put my plain black zipper hoodie on with my favorite pair of regular dark blue jeans and headed out through the garage.

X-X-X

 _Here I am once again contemplating my life as I walk. I need a new hobby or at least something interesting to do._ The sky got dark all of a sudden and I saw some water droplets begin to fall around me. _**Crapbaskets**. Why does it have to rain **now**? I'm barely **three** houses away!_ I turned around and started to head back home before I would get soaked. As the driveway got into view, I saw a mysterious black pick-up truck roll out of it and speed off. _Some idiot; probably got mixed up or something._ I got to the house and saw there was a package in front of the garage. _Well that's odd. I wasn't told there would be a package coming by today. It better not be something stupid._ Walking over to it, I picked it up and it was surprisingly light in my hands. _Must not be much inside._ Turning it over, I saw that it had a symbol in what looked like a broken moon. My brow furrowed. _I swear to God I've seen this before, but it's probably not important._ I shrugged my shoulders and got inside realizing that it was getting ready to storm.

X-X-X

Bringing the package in my room, I thought about whether or not I should open it. _Screw it. I'm opening it._ After staring at it for 10 minutes due to seer curiosity, I carefully opened it and inside was a whitish crystal-like object. I wasn't very large, barely fitting in the palm of my hand, and it was surprisingly warm; almost as if it was flowing with energy. _Why does this seem so familiar? Damn it all! What am I missing?!_ I squeezed the crystal in my hand in frustration and it started to glow. Glancing at it, my eyes widened.

"What the f-" Lightning struck what I thought was outside and in an instant, I was gone leaving only a small amount of smoke behind.

X-X-X

 **Unknown location**

"uck?!" I yelped. I stopped and checked myself before checking my surroundings.

 _Okay: Still clothed, which is good; body seems to be unharmed, but I feel **different** somehow as if I feel animated; hold on… okay, journal is still with me thank God. Crystal._ I fumbled in my pockets for the strange crystal, but it was nowhere to be found. _God Damn it all!_ Pinching the bridge of my nose and taking in a deep breath, I looked up to the sky and saw that it was what I assumed to be nighttime. But the thing was there were thousands of stars in the sky. There were constellations I did not recognize at all, but the scariest thing of all was the moon. The moon I was currently staring at in awe was shattered, but it still had a large amount of luminosity as if it was the equivalent to a full moon. _I am defiantly not in Kansas anymore; or Earth for that matter. But the question remains.._.

"Where the hell am I?" I mumbled under my breath. As if my question was heard by some otherworldly being, I heard someone call me.

"Young man! What are you doing out here and instead of in your dorm?" I heard a mature feminine voice speak to me.

 _Dorms? I must be at a school of sorts._ I turned around and I saw the person who spoke to me was approaching and that was when I was in awe for a second time, but also terrified. The thing that put me in awe was the building I was staring at. It looked like something straight out of fantasy. This **castle** had a kind of Gothic-styled architecture, with a really tall tower being the most notable feature. The peak of the tower had a clock and was surrounded by shining greens lights emitting from it; a beacon of sorts. _If **this** is a school, then it kicks ass! _ But then I was reminded of what was terrifying me; the woman approaching me. Upon closer inspection, she appeared to be middle-aged with light-blonde hair tied back in what appeared to be a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face. Her eyes were bright green and wearing a thin pair of glasses. She was wearing hanging earrings with a small bead identical to her earrings on her collar. Her attire consisted of a white long-sleeved suit that exposes part of her chest (which I **wasn't** glancing at since I'm not indecent), and puffy sleeves that tighten near her wrist before spreading back out near her hands. Her lower body had a dark colored business skirt with buttons running in a vertical line up the front of it and lighter colored stockings, but due to the darkness – and my eyes still adjusting – I couldn't determine the exact color She was also wearing colored heeled boots, but I still couldn't determine the color. She also appeared to be holding what looked like a riding crop, and she was really, **REALLY** pissed at me.

"What are you doing out here?!" she asked irritably.

Not wanting to get my ass kicked, I replied, "Sorry Miss. I don't really know where I am or how I got here. From what I can see, you appear to have a large amount of authority here at what I assume is an academy. I am actually not a student here, but if I could please make a request to speak with either you or whoever your boss is, I may be able to answer some of your questions and shed some light on my predicament." I flinched, waiting for some sort of reaction, but all she did was glare at me.

"At least he has some manners." she seemed to mumble under her breath. "Alright, if you are not a student here, then how did you get here? You do understand that this is a restricted area to non-Beacon students."

 _Beacon? Another familiar name…_ "I completely understand and I assure you I mean no ill intent. I was at my home, and I got a package that had a picture of a shattered moon on it and inside the package was a crystal-looking object that felt like lightning. I squeezed it in my hand and I was gone if a flash of light, which I believe came from the crystal. I then found myself here."

She looked at me to see if I was lying. "Well, that explains the sudden thunderstorm from earlier." she spoke to herself. "Come with me. The Headmaster would like to speak with you."

Sighing in relief that I wasn't going to get hurt, I followed the woman as we headed to see the Headmaster.

X-X-X

 **Headmaster's Office**

As we headed up the elevator, I was nervous beyond belief. I was constantly looking around not knowing what will happen. I decided to ease my mind a bit by asking the woman a simple question.

"I know this may seem weird, but may I ask you your name; or at least your last name so I can know how to properly address you?"

"You may refer to me as Miss Goodwitch" she replied not even looking at me. "We have arrived at the Headmaster's office, please follow me," she said.

Following her orders, I went ahead and stepped into the office, and I was surprised for a third time. The office was what I expected from a typical Headmaster's office: a wooden desk with some papers, a filing cabinet, and other things I didn't really care about. The thing that had me amazed was what was above me. There were tons of gears rotating in the ceiling as if the clock was directly above this office.

"Woooaaaahhh" I said. I was then interrupted when I heard someone clear their throat. I looked at the direction of the noise, and that was when I saw who I assumed to be the Headmaster.

He was a middle-aged man with tousled gray hair and thin brown eyes covered by shaded glass spectacles and donned a dark-green scarf with a small, purple, cross-shaped emblem on it. Attire consisted of an unzipped black suit over a black-buttoned vest, with a green undershirt underneath. I assumed he also wears black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants to match the rest of his outfit, but being he was sitting down I couldn't really determine that. He also had a cane by his right side and a mug of what I guessed to be coffee in his left hand. I could immediately tell to not get on this man's bad side, but he also had an air of understanding and wisdom.

"So you are the one that appeared on our campus uninvited?" he inquired behind his mug gesturing me to sit down.

I reluctantly sat down across from him and replied, "I believe I am Headmaster sir."

"Sir? How quaint." Taking a sip from his mug, "I would like to ask you a few questions if it is alright with you. Just some basic information is all I need."

"It's fine sir. My name is Sherman Perkins; however, you will not find any information in your databases. Not my name; no phone number; place of residence; not even a birth certificate. Nor do you have any facial profiles of me. I am not really from around here." I told him scratching the back of my head.

The Headmaster slightly furrowed his brow and looked to Miss Goodwitch for confirmation.

"He's not lying sir. There really is no information about him. I even checked the databases of the other kingdoms, and there is nothing about him anywhere."

The Headmaster looked at me closely and asked me if he could have a sample of my blood taken. I hesitated at first, but I told him it was fine. Miss Goodwitch took some of my blood and left the office. I sat there awkwardly and shifted uncomfortably in my seat. The Headmaster just kept looking at me as if he was analyzing me under a microscope and I felt myself getting smaller. Miss Goodwitch came back a few minutes later to reveal the results.

"Sir, you are not going to believe this. According to his blood sample, he has a very little amount of Dust, but his actual blood is something I have never seen before. There are also no traces of Aura at all. The only amount of Dust I can gather from this was from what he described to be a Lightning Dust crystal."

The Headmaster said, "You mean to tell me that he has Lightning Dust inside his body, and that is the only Dust inside him?"

"Yes Sir. He seemed to have infused himself with lightning Dust. I know of theories that it is possible for people to absorb Dust into their bodies, but to actually see someone do this it's amazing."

I looked between the two of them as they talked, and I asked, "Excuse me sir for interrupting. If you don't mind me asking, who exactly are you?"

The adults turned toward me and seemed surprised at the question as if I lived under a rock. The Headmaster replied, "I am Ozpin, and I am the Headmaster of Beacon Academy."

It was then I pieced everything together, and I realized where exactly I was. " **Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!** How could I have been so **STUPID?!** I should have realized it sooner!" I yelled slapping myself about to tear my hair out in anger. _I'm on Remnant! I have been taken the world of RWBY!_ " **Dammit!** " Ozpin looked at me with a bit of concern at my sudden outburst.

"Are you alright young man?" he asked me.

Calming down and taking a deep breath, "What are your thoughts on other worlds, dimensions and alternate universes?" I asked.

Both Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch looked at me with raised eyebrows. Ozpin said, "I have not given it much thought, but I do believe that other worlds have a possibility of existing. Are you saying you are not from Remnant?"

"I am not from Remnant sir. I am from a place called Earth. It is very different from what I know about Remnant. My world doesn't have a lot of the technology Remnant has or any of this worlds' abilities."

"And how do you know about Remnant?" Miss Goodwitch asked me.

I broke eye contact from them. _Do I tell them about the show? You know what? Damage is already done. I am going to mess up the canon anyway._ "On my world, Remnant exists as a popular web series created by Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth. I know about some things that are going to happen in the future, but there is no point in trying to make them happen the way they did in the show since my presence here alone is making changes. Plus I have no idea when those events are going to take place. I don't expect you to believe me"

A few silent minutes pass before Ozpin spoke,"I don't" he paused to take another sip from his mug. "But I do believe you are not from Remnant based on what we know about you from the blood sample and your appearance. I am going to ask you a question Mr. Perkins –"

"Please call me Sherman. I'm not really one for formalities."

"Very well; Sherman, do you want to attend my school?"

I looked at Ozpin stunned as if he would even consider me attending Beacon Academy. Miss Goodwitch looked equally stunned as well.

"Sir, are you actually considering this boy—"

"Glynda let him speak."

I thought about it for a solid minute, and I then came to my decision. "Headmaster Ozpin, as much as it is an honor for this once-in-a-lifetime offer, I simply cannot accept."

Both Ozpin and Goodwitch were surprised by my answer. Ozpin asked me, "I can't imagine your decision, but care to explain why you think this?"

With a look of new found determination on my face, I said, "I am not ready for this level of combat; I have no prior combat training at all; I'm not even sure if I have an Aura or a Semblance; the people of this world would obliterate me regardless if said person has an Aura; I also cannot live with the fact that you would accept someone who is the equivalent of a civilian into the most prestigious academy this world offers with no prior combat experience. I am also incredibly weak and I do not think even the four years at Beacon would make me into Huntsman material. I also have no natural resistance against Dust capable weapons. I do not want to arouse suspicion about myself and jeopardize your reputation. Sure I would receive a place to live and food to eat, but it will be something I will have to live without for awhile until I think I am even remotely ready for your school. Plus, I am 19 years old. I would be too old to be a first-year student."

Ozpin looked at me from behind his mug. Taking another sip he replied, "It is unfortunate that you have come to that decision, but your reasoning is understandable. What do you plan to do in the meantime?"

Thinking about it for a bit, "Give me two years. Then I will accept your invitation to join Beacon. I understand that I will be even older than I am now, but I would rather be older with a bit of combat experience as a first-year student than attend while being older with no combat experience at all. Do you know where I can find a smithy that has Dust resistant material? Even if my Aura was unlock, assuming I even **have** one to begin with, one Dust powered object would leave me dead. So I am going to need an extra layer of protection."

Ozpin nodded and took out a pen and paper and wrote down an address. He handed it to me and directed me where I would need to go. He said I needed to speak with Blacksmith Sathrall for my request; saying he was the best smith in Vale. He also gave me a scroll with his and Miss Goodwitch's contact info for any emergencies or further questions.

"Now I understand you like your Earthly name or Terran name, as you refer to yourself in our world, but I need to give you a different name that fits ours. What do you wish to be called?" Ozpin asked me.

Thinking again for another minute, I came up with something. "I'll do this; I will let those I trust to know my Earth name, but I would like to be known as Opallios Stone."

Ozpin, satisfied with my choice, put the name in the scroll and had a hint of a smile. "Well then Mr. Stone, good luck on your journey and I will see you in two years. I expect great things from you. Oh, and give Sathrall my regards."

"Thank you sir; I will." I said smiling. I got up from the chair, exited Beacon, and proceeded to Vale via airship. _Well then, looks like my new life will be interesting._ I thought as Vale came into view after writing a quick entry in my journal.

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 **Terms – Loose Definitions**

 **Opallios – Greek word that means to change [of color]. It's where the word Opal comes from, which is my Birthstone.**

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 **THANK GOD FOR RWBY WIKI!**

 **I would have never been able to properly describe character appearances without it because I have a terrible fashion sense. I hoped I did decent with Ozpin and Goodwitchs' personalities.**

 **I declined getting into Beacon and decided to go get two years of training before I consider going. My new life begins.**

 **I want to thank chiufan95 for giving me a heads up on the differences between the people of Remnant and Terrains as well as the recommendations of two _very_ good fanfics: "Emergence" and "Aliens Among Us" both by chris7221. These two fics gave me an idea on what someone like me would be experiencing on Remnant and you really should read them.**

 **Now I need your help.**

 **I need OCs for when I go to Beacon. I still have absolutely no idea how many I am going to need, but I think the idea I am going for is basically an entire new RWBY cast. I hope that is an indication of how many I would need, but even that might not be enough. If you have ANY kind of OC, no matter who it is, let me know in a review or a PM. You can also try and contact me on the other links located near the bottom of my Bio page.**

 **I will obviously give credit to your OC.**

 **I have some OC "profile pics" but I have no idea what to name any of them. At the time of me writing this, I have 13 of these pics. However, I am really going to need more than that.**

 **Once again, PLEASE send your OC submissions in a review, a PM, or in one of the alternate contact methods.**

 **I am also taking requests for Beta Readers, since I am obviously going to need someone.**

 **This has been TTOA, and I will see you in Chapter 2!**

 **Peace!**


	2. A New Look (Somewhat)

**Chapter 2: A New Look (Somewhat)**

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 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth**

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 **Hey There Guys and Gals! TTOA here back with another Chapter! I hope you enjoy this. I also want to thank the people who are following and favoriting this story. It means a lot to me.**

 **Now then, onward with the Chapter!**

 **(Update 6/5/2015 sgolek1 pointed out a major inconstancy with this Chapter and I have taken the time to correct it. Thanks a bunch)**

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"Speech"

'Thought'

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Opening Narration**_ / _Log_

X-X-X Scene shift

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 _Opallios's Log #1_

 _Day One of New Life_

 _2:30 A.M._

 _Looks like I got something new to write about this time. I was on Earth, my old home and old life, when I received a mysterious package. Not really thinking much on it, I opened it and inside was what I later would find out to be a Lightning Dust crystal. It transported me to Remnant, specifically Beacon Academy, a place where people train to become Huntsmen/Huntresses. I know of this information due to how Remnant existed on Earth. Seeing Beacon first hand was **awesome**. It was just how I imagined it to be. But meeting Miss Goodwitch was just as terrifying. Ozpin seemed pretty chill though. He even offered me to be accepted into Beacon! How kick-ass is that?! I had to decline unfortunately due to how different I am from the people of Remnant as well as not having any combat training. Ozzy Ozpin (I like giving him this nickname) gave me a Scroll as well as a direction to a smithy in Vale ran by someone named Sathrall. I hope whomever this is can make me some Dust -resistant armor. I'm also giving myself two years of training however I can before I decide to go to Beacon..._

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 **Just Outside Vale**

I sat there looking out the window of the airship and admiring the view of Vale. _Man, my hometown doesn't have **anything** on this._ I smiled to myself.

"First time visiting Vale?" I heard the pilot ask.

"Yeah, it is. It's a great view from up here. I can't wait to see some of the sights." I said.

"Well we are about to touch down."

"Alright."

I sat down as the airship made its descend into Vale.

 **Downtown Vale**

"Thanks for the ride!" I called out.

"No problem kid. Enjoy your time in Vale!" the pilot replied before he took off.

Looking around the city, taking in the sites and sounds, I felt a bit at ease that Vale was similar to most of the places back home. _Which I don't think I will be able to see again. But this doesn't seem too bad._ I pulled out my Scroll and activated the GPS like Ozpin instructed me to do so. I quickly found the location of the blacksmith. I follow the marker until I arrived at The Hammer and the Anvil. I could tell from the intense heat of the area that this was the place. I took in a deep breath and headed inside. I looked around the store and I saw **so many** weapons. There was everything from swords to daggers; bows, to boomerangs; and practically every kind of firearm imaginable. _This is amazing!_ I heard some footsteps approaching, and I was greeted by a man. His face looked like it had seen many battles. Although he had no visible scars, he had a mess of blonde hair with a braided one on the right side of his face. His face looked to be in his mid 30s. He had a goatee of the same color and had jade-colored eyes. His build was very muscular, but not beefy or body-builder. His attire had a dark red and black apron with baggy black pants. He also had a hammer strapped to the left side of his body. _This guy just screams Skyrim Nord. _He looked at me with determined eyes.

"Hello young man. Welcome to the Hammer and the Anvil, I am Sathrall, the best Blacksmith in Vale. What can I do for you?"

 _He definitely sounds like one too._ "Hello. I am Opallios Stone, and I have a request from Headmaster Ozpin. He says his regards," I answered as I handed him the paper Ozpin gave me. Looking it over a few times, Sathrall eyes softened and let out a hearty laugh that placed me at ease.

"I haven't talked with ol' Ozzy in a long time. I will happily do whatever I can Mr. Stone."

"Please call me Opallios."

"No problem! Now I see you have a request for a Dust resistant material. I am assuming that it is armor you want?" Already having an idea on what I wanted due to me thinking it over while making my trip here, I gave him the template I wanted. Giving him my hoodie as a extra template to make it out of. "Is there anything else you want me to do?" Sathrall asked me as he took my hoodie.

I said, "Can you make me two retractable center-gripped shields that go from my neck, to around my knees and around my body out of the same Dust resistant material? I am learning to become ambidextrous, and I think being able to use a shield in either hand would be beneficial for me. As far as a weapon is concerned, I want to have a simple mace, with a slightly pointed tip at the end, but not so much that is doesn't mess-up the weight, so I can have a bit of a thrust to my mace instead of just bashing everything in all the time. I don't want a firearm added to the mace because I don't plan on using one. If you could also add an aura reader to the HUD of my visor for the hood, I would like that too. I think that would be all. I'm sorry if that is too much."

Sathrall gave another laugh, "Not a problem at all my lad! I am going to need to keep your hoodie for a couple of days. It actually shouldn't take me more than two days to get everything done. On the subject on your weapon, it is customary for hunters to name their weapons. What do you like to name it?"

Crestfallen that I wouldn't be able to get my hoodie back for a couple of days, I thought of a name for my weapon. "I would like to name her Black Lightning. My shields can be called Gemini Guardians."

"Her? You have your things feminine?" Sathrall inquired.

"It's something that is common back home." I said. "So it will be a couple of days before they are ready, right?"

"That is correct. I'll call you when they are finished."

"Alright. Thanks Sathrall. I can't wait for the results!"

I left the smith and decided to go and see the things Vale had to offer me. _I should probably look for a job or something. I'm going to need some money. Sucks that I am not going to have my hoodie for awhile. Let's make make the job something easy for me to do._ Bringing out my Scroll again, I did a quick job search at locations near me. I was surprised that the Scroll gave so much detailed information. _Huh, there is a place called The Wolf of the Moon that's looking for someone to clean up the place. I'm going to assume it's run by Faunas. Hopefully they will accept me despite me being human._

"Then again, I'm not **technically** human." I mumbled to myself as I came to a decision to head there. The place was actually not too far from both the smith and the airships leading to Beacon. I arrived there in about three minutes since I take long strides whenever I walk. I took a deep breath and walked inside. I heard the bell on the top of the door ring as I looked around the place. It was an antique store and it **really** did look like it needed to be cleaned. There was dust on multiple shelves and dirt piled up in various corners of the room. I heard someone approaching me.

"Welcome to The Wolf of the Moon, how may I help- what's a **human** doing here?" the Faunus said as he saw me. He was a typical wolf Faunus, and he looked to be in his mid-twenties and he also wasn't pleased to see me.

"Hello, my name is Opallios Stone, and I am here for the job opening as far as helping to keep your store clean." I said. "Is me being a human going to be a problem? Do you not hire and/or serve humans?"

"I don't normally get a lot of humans here. I'm just surprised that a human would even consider working here. I honestly don't think all humans are bad. Most treat us like trash, but there are a few diamonds in the rough that treat us with the respect. My name is Jason by the way."

"Well Jason, you can consider me one of those diamonds in the rough. I have a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of racism. It's wrong that only because someone has a few animal-like traits that they are immediately looked down upon and ridiculed. It seems that even here, racism still rears its ugly head. Where I come from, people like me would treated poorly due to our skin color being different; we were known as colored people. We are stereotyped and underpaid, despite having laws that are supposed to make it better for us, and it pisses me off. So you could say I understand what it feels like." I explained.

Jason nodded. "I never thought humans could ridicule one another for a reason like that. I'm sorry for judging you like that. It's just hard to find kind humans these days."

"It's alright. I understand you had your reasons to assume so. I just wish Fauna were treated with the respect they deserve."

Jason paused. "Can I ask you a more personal question?"

I looked at him. "Sure, what's on your mind?"

"What is your opinion on the White Fang?"

I thought about it a bit before answering. "I understand what the White Fang is trying to do, and I admire that they are doing things peacefully. There was a time back home where my people fought for our rights through peaceful protests. I hope the White Fang can make some progress by doing this. However, it seems that said progress is slow in bringing change."

"Interesting answer. I'm sorry for all of the questions. You wanted the job, right?" Jason said.

"It's fine, what do you want me to do?" I replied.

"I just want you to keep watch over the store. Cleaning up the dust off of the stuff is needed. I think that's pretty much it," Jason told me.

"Will me being a human interfere with business? I don't want you to lose customers on account of me," I asked.

Jason shook his head. "I don't get a whole lot of customers anyway. It shouldn't be a problem."

"Alright then," I said and we shook hands. _At least I have a job now._ "Oh wait, I'm expecting something at  The Hammer and the Anvil to be done in a couple of days. I hope it's not too much trouble for me to go and get it when it's ready."

"It's not a problem. If you are getting something from Sathrall, then it must be good." Jason told me.

Satisfied, I got a duster and some gloves and began cleaning up The Wolf of the Moon.

 **A few hours later**

Wiping the sweat off of my brow, I got the place to be so clean that everything had a nice shine to it. Jason walked in from the back and looked around. Whistling, he said, "Man, I haven't seen the store this clean in a long time. Here is your paycheck."

He handed it to me, but I was confused. "Don't I need a few days of working here to be done before I get paid?" I asked him.

"Nah. Since you did such a good job, and I don't get a lot of company as it is, I figured it would be nice to get some money to you. Plus, you look like you could use some. I pay in cash and check by the way. This first one's in cash," Jason said smiling.

Genuinely surprised at such a generous offer from a stranger I've only known for a few hours, I took out the money, 45 Lien, and placed it in my pocket. Thanking Jason, I was about to leave the store, but I realized I did not have a place to sleep for the night. I asked him where the nearest hotel was, and he directed me to where I needed to go. I headed to the hotel, which was once again close to where my job was at, and ordered a room. _Man, what a day. At least I have a job that has a good pay by my standards, considering I never had a job before. Jason seems nice as well._ I did a journal entry before I went to sleep, knowing that my journey has only just begun.

 **The next day**

Here I was at my job keeping The Wolf of Moon clean, when my Scroll vibrated. Digging it out of my pocket, I saw that I received a notification from Sathrall concerning my armor. It said that it was finished early, and after Jason let me go get it, I left the store and headed to get my stuff. Walking inside to see Sathrall, I saw he had everything I needed. I looked at what would be my armor, and it looked just how I wanted without activating it; just like my regular black zipper hoodie with bits of red in it.

I said as I put it on, "Man, this looks nice. How do I activate it?"

Sathrall said, "This is one of my best works. In order to activate it, you need to have it zipped all the way up, have the hood up, and in the pockets there are two switches that activate the full armor."

Trying it out, I got it all to work and it covered my whole body. The colors were a mixture of black armor with streaks of red along the shoulders, arms, chest area, and legs. It reminded me a bit of something out of an anime, but I couldn't remember which one it was specifically.

"It doesn't seem to weigh that much. Is the material light-weight?" I asked.

Sathrall nodded. "Yeah, the material is light-weight, but it acts like a full suit of armor. You got some really good stuff. I also added the aura reader to you HUD like you asked. Also the hoodie itself is made out of the same material."

Looking at it, I noticed that he had a lot of aura while I didn't seem to had any. I frowned. "I don't know how much I have. I think my aura is still locked."

Sathrall raised his eyebrows. "What?! Your aura is locked?! If you are going to be a huntsman, you are going to need your aura unlocked. I'll do it for you."

"Are you sure? I heard the process takes a lot of energy. Will you be okay to do this? I don't want to harm you." I questioned.

"It should be fine. Just make it another thing I can help you with." Sathrall reassured me. "Now you are going to need to hold still as I unlock it okay?"

"Alright. If you are okay with this." I said as I stood still.

Sathrall placed his hand on my shoulder and closed his eyes and spoke, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality, through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

I felt something inside of me being awakened. I was engulfed in a yellow aura. Sathrall, opened his eyes and took in a deep breath, stumbling a bit. I caught him asking him if he was okay. He told me it was fine. I noticed that my aura reader on my HUD shot up.

"Looks like you have a lot of aura. Haven't seen someone with that much in a **long** time." Sathrall said.

"Seems like I do, according to my aura reader on my HUD." I replied.

"Oh that reminds me, flick your wrists and it will activate your shields."

Flicking my left wrist, my shield opened up and covered most of my body. Happy with the results, I activated my other shield, and I saw it was the same. Feeling the weight of it as I held it in my hand, as it wasn't really attached to my wrist, it was just where the shields were stored. _Sweet._

"One more thing," Sathrall told me as he went in the back of the store. He came back with my mace. "Here's the weapon you wanted. I hope it's to your liking."

He handed me my Black Lightning and I looked at her with awe as it was my first weapon. Feeling the weight in my hand as I balanced it and giving it a few small swings, I was overjoyed with the results. I also liked how the tip was pointed , but it wasn't long enough to hurt the weight.

"This is amazing! Thank you so much for everything Sathrall!" I said as I placed Black Lightning in my holster and deactivated my armor.

"No problem Opallios! I'm happy to have another satisfied customer. If you need any kind of repairs, let me know. I will always welcome you." Sathrall said with a smile.

"Thanks. I will." I replied. Being how I just remembered something very important, I had one more question for Sathrall. "Can you give me a location for someone to train me? I planned on getting into Beacon in a couple of years after I gotten some training."

Thinking it over for a minute, Sathrall got out a piece of paper and wrote down an address. "When you have the time, head here. He is an old friend of mine. I don't just give his location to just anyone, so he will know that I sent you. Fair warning though; his methods are a bit forceful at first, but they produce results."

"Thanks Sathrall. I'll head over there after my shift." I said.

"You actually got a job; and in only a day? Nice!" Sathrall said.

"Thanks for the tip!" I said good-bye and headed back to Jason.

X-X-X

I was back at The Wolf of the Moon and I decided to show Jason my new armor. He was amazed that it looked so casual normally while the armor itself looked liked it something out of an action movie. I decided not to show him my weapons due to possible damage to the store.

"Well, what kind of weapons do you have?" Jason asked me.

"I just have a slightly pointed mace. I named her Black Lightning because I want to utilize the Lightning Dust inside me to give it an extra punch." I said.

"Sounds awesome! At least you can help defend the store." Jason said.

"Wait? Do you robbed often?" I asked him.

"No. It will just be added protection. Who would rob an antique store anyway?" he asked rhetorically.

"I guess that makes sense. Now, I'm going to meet someone to train me; and I think it will interfere with the job. Are your hours flexible?" I asked with a bit of worry.

"Yeah man, I'm totally flexible. If this will help you become a Huntsman, then I can work around it."

"Thanks, although I don't know what kind of training I will get or how long my training will be on a daily basis, so I might not be able to be at work all that often." I told him.

"Again, it's fine. You'll be training to be a Huntsman. I understand that training will be tough. As long as you show up a few times, that's all that matters to me. If you are able to, tell me how it goes. Are you going to go after today?"

"Yeah, I was going to head there after my shift. I wanted to start as soon as I can." I explained.

Jason nodded in understanding. "I guess I'll let you leave early so you can get to your training." He told me.

"Are you sure? I can work for a few more hours if you want." I asked him.

"Nah, it's fine. Better to start training early than start later on." Jason answered. "If I am not going to be seeing you all that often, I guess I should pay you. It's in cash again. Let me know when you make an account so I can start paying you with checks."

"Thanks boss! I'll try to get an account as soon as I can. I'll also give you some insight on how my training goes" I thanked him as I left. I looked up at the sky to see the sun was going down. _Damn it. Looks like I will have to start my training tomorrow._ My stomach rumbled. _I just realized I haven't eaten anything since I got here. I wonder where the nearest place is._ I checked my Scroll to see where I could grab a bite to eat. I saw that there was a cafe nearby. After a ten minute walk, I made it to the cafe. Sat down in a booth near the back of the place. A Faunus waitress asked for my order and I said I just wanted a sandwich with some water. After a few minutes she came back with my order. I ate my sandwich in silence as I wrote in my journal. _I wonder what kind of music they have in this world? Hopefully some Rock or Metal._ I was about to elaborate on this when I heard a scream. I turned around to see the waitress about to be beaten by someone. Noticing that no one came to help her, I got up and went over to the man.

" **HEY!** What the **fuck** is your issue? Leave her alone!" I said darkly.

The man looked at me and said, "This animal doesn't deserve to be here."

" **Bull-fucking-shit!** You need to get the **FUCK** out of here!" I threatened as I activated my armor, but did not draw Black Lightning.

"You want to go beast-lover? You don't stand a chance." the man said.

He went ahead and threw a punch at me which connected with my face. My armor protected my from most of the hit, but it still hurt. _Damn it! That hurt like hell._ The man sneered as he got ready for another punch. Suddenly, I felt something in me change. I clenched up my fist and was ready to throw it, and I felt my aura get powered by it. I blocked his punch with my hand and threw the punch with, not realizing how powerful it was going to be. When the punch connected, there was a charge coming from it, and the man crashed into a few tables and was nearly knocked out. I stood over him, fury engulfed my face as I said two simple words, " **GET. OUT.** " The man looked at me in fear and scrambled out of the cafe, which was met with silence. Deactivating my armor, I looked around the cafe with an annoyed expression.

"What's wrong with all of you? **None** of you decided to help. Do you have no heart? It's people like you that make me lose faith in humanity. I don't know why you just stand there when someone needs help, but show a little concern. Just a little can make all the difference." I told them. They all looked a little down. I looked around them again, "I understand that some of you wouldn't have acted in place in my position, that is why I am training to become a Huntsman. I have a zero-tolerance policy for racism. I don't want any of this to happen anymore to anyone. Can I count on you all to make a difference? Even if it's not much, the smallest pebble can cause the largest avalanche." I saw the faces look up with understanding. Happy that I was able to make some changes of heart for some people with my less-than-stellar speech, I walked over to the waitress. "Are you alright? I hope I didn't frighten you." I asked with a look of concern.

She looked shaken up, but she said, "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Thanks to you."

I smiled. "My name is Opallios Stone, but I like to just be called Opallios. I'm sorry you had to be treated this way. It's inexcusable."

"My name is Catlin Lilly. Thank you for helping me. It's very rare to see humans treat Faunas fairly. And it to find the cute ones." she said with a small smile.

Blushing slightly and scratching the back of my head in embarrassment, I said, "It's fine. I do hope that humanity will treat the Faunas with the respect they deserve sometime soon." Thanking her for the food, I paid her extra and headed back to the hotel. _What the heck happened back there? I got angry and I think my fist got charged with a mixture of my aura and the Lightning Dust. But what was with me blocking the punch. I wouldn't have been able to block that since I can't fight worth a damn_. "So what happened?" I mumbled to myself as I reached my room. _It's nothing to dwell over. I am confident that training can figure it out. I'm also going to need some more clothes. Can't wear the same thing for three days straight._ I did another entry in my journal before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 **Man, I'm tired. How many words was this?**

 ***Checks word count***

 **OVER 4600 WORDS (4655 to be exact)?! Wow, that's a lot for me to do.**

 **Okay, so I now have a job, I got my armor and my mace. As well as made some friends.**

 **I really can't thank you guys enough for waiting so patiently for this Chapter. College is really taking its toll on me. I hope you liked it! I'm still looking for OCs and Beta Readers as well. Don't forget to message me in a review, PM, or the other contact methods located on my Bio for your submissions. It's really difficult for a novice writer like me to come up with OCs. They can be any kind of character.**

 **Now, I'm going to go get some sleep.**

 **This has been TTOA and I will see you all in Chapter 3!**

 **Peace!**


	3. The Journey to meet my Master

**Chapter 3: The Journey to meeting my Master**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum. I own nothing.**

* * *

 **Hey There Guys and Gals! TTOA here with a new Chapter! I hope this will be to your liking.**

 **I will say this for almost every Chapter I put out for this story, I need OC submissions. I should probably clarify that they don't need to be Beacon students. If that was somehow a limitation to making an OC, then that shouldn't be a problem anymore. I am looking for any kind. You can also submit more than one.**

 **Now, onward with the Chapter!**

* * *

"Speech"

 _Thought_

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Narration** /Log_

 **[#] Author's Comments which will be at the end of the Chapter but before the ending A/N.**

X-X-X Scene change

* * *

 _Opallios's Log #3_

 _Day 3 of New Life_

 _There are many things I wanted to have in my previous life: a car, a job, maybe a girlfriend. I was at least able to get one of those. I got a job working at a place called The Wolf of the Moon. It's an antique store ran by a wolf Faunus named Jason. We seem to be on good terms. He's very laid-back for being my boss. Also, my armor got finished; and a day early no less! It makes me look like such a BAMF. Combine that with my mace Black Lightning and my Gemini Guardian center-grip shields, it really completes it. Now all I have to do is train in it. Sathrall was even kind enough to unlock my Aura. He also gave me a location of someone he knows who will be able to train me. As far as my aura is concerned, I appear to have a shit-ton of it, and the color seems to be yellow. I was also briefly able to tap into the Lightning Dust in my body. I really can't wait to get some kick-ass uses out of that. I got a bite to eat at a cafe (which was near the hotel; as every place I've been to these past couple of days have been nearby) and there was some asshole picking on a Faunus waitress. To think even in a new world, racism still exists. However; something, **interesting** occurred as I took on the man. I took a punch, which really hurt despite my aura being recently unlocked, but the **next** punch he threw **I both caught AND countered**. This is very important to note since I have never been in a fight. I think that was my Semblance. If this is true, then I am extremely lucky to unlock it so soon. My theory is that it is kind of like reading an opponent's moves in fighting games like Super Smash Bros. (which is one of the many, **many** things I will miss not having in this world). After I see how my opponent fights, which would be represented by me taking a few hits (which I can take thanks to my high aura), I then can "read" my opponent's fighting style(s). This would allow me to "see" moves and appropriately counter-attack. This is really just a theory (a Game/Film Theory!), but I hope to put that to the test when I begin my training. I think I should at least use my recent paycheck to buy some more clothes so I am not wearing the same thing everyday. I'll put them in the backpack Ozzy Ozpin gave me before I left Beacon. I can't wait to see what my master is going to be like..._

* * *

 **A Shopping District in Vale**

Since I didn't want to be wearing the same clothes for three days straight and possibly the rest of my time spent in this world, I checked my Scroll to find some clothing stores; hoping I would have enough Lien to pay for what I wanted. The funny thing about me when it comes to shopping for clothes is that I usually am dragged into shopping for clothes by my mother; but seeing as that she is no longer here and that I am on my own, I had **make** myself go shopping. Considering the fact that I **rarely** go shopping on my own, I would have **no idea** what to do. The thing is that I know I would be getting a lot weird looks from the people shopping here since I am basically going to be lost. Also tie-in the fact that I have no clue how sizes are done on Remnant compared to Earth, it would add even more difficulty to an already difficult situation. _Hopefully a decent set of clothes can be bought with 75 Lien; but I highly doubt that._ "Damn it all." I mumbled under my breath as I wandered around aimlessly for about five minutes. I decided to check my Scroll to see where I was, and I realized that I was pretty close to a store that could provide me with what I needed. I headed in that direction until I got the what I hoped for was the store I wanted. _I just want to get a few shirts and hopefully a couple of pairs of jeans. I hope that won't be too expensive._ I thought as I walked into the store.

I was greeted by a male in his mid twenties, "Hello and welcome! Is there anything I can help you with?" he asked me with almost too much emotion.

"How to jean sizes work here? I am recently new to Vale and I grew up outside the four kingdoms."

"I'll measure your waist size and then I'll match the jeans with whatever your size is." he replied.

After a quick measure, he directed me over to where I needed to go. I looked at some of the jeans that would fit me as well as the prices. _Okay good, these three pairs would only cost me about 50 Lien. That should leave me with enough Lien to buy one or two shirts._ I made my purchases on my jeans and headed to a different store to look for shirts since the ones where I got my jeans at didn't have the style I was looking for. I ended up in a punk-rock themed store. Walking in, I was greeted my a young woman.

"Sup? Welcome. Let me know if anything catches your eye." she said. I nodded as I walked around the store for a bit. Something actually caught my eye, it was a black shirt with a graphic of three howling Beowolves and the shattered moon. I looked at the price and it I saw it would cost me the rest of my Lien. Frowning, I went ahead and put the shirt back on the rack.

"You must really like that shirt. It's not very popular with most of our customers. Is it too expensive?" I heard the woman who greeted me from behind.

"Yeah, it just looks **really** awesome. But buying it would drain me on all the Lien I have left." I said with a little disappointment.

"Tell you what; you buy another shirt, and I will make that one 75% off." she offered.

My eyes widened. "Are you okay with that? I mean – it's a great deal - but are you okay with doing this? I don't want to hurt your business."

She chuckled. "You are one of the few customers I ever get here. I guess it's because the store looks a bit uncomfortable to the general public. I'm just happy I'm getting someone to buy the stuff."

"Okay. If you say so." I said with a small smile.

I looked around a bit more to see what shirt I wanted to get. The one that caught my eye was another black shirt, but it had a red skull with two white B.C. Rich Warlocks (one of my personal favorite guitars) crossing it and large silver claw marks across the middle; as if it is from a popular metal band of this world.

"I see you picked the Red Skull Shredders. You actually like their music? You don't really look like the kind of guy to like them or this kind of music." I heard the woman say as she approached me.

"I get that a lot and I am honestly not sure if I would like them. I don't have a band called the Red Skull Shredders back home, but metal is one of my favorite genres of music. I'll have to give them a listen to see if I would like them. Buying this kind of shirt gives me a sense of comfort."

She nodded in understanding. "I think you will. Will that be all today?"

"I think that's it." I said as we walked over to the counter.

I went ahead and paid for the shirts. I thanked her and I left the store. _Looks like I actually **can** buy some decent pairs of clothes with only 75 Lien. _ Checking my Scroll, I noticed that it was still only 11 in the morning. _I need to get a watch; and I think now would be a good time as any to go and find the person who will be training me for the next couple of years._ I pulled the paper Sathrall gave me to look at the address to where this person is out of my pocket. Referencing my Scroll for location, I noticed that it would the distance was about five miles from where I currently was. _Crapbaskets. That's **really** far for me to walk._ I mentally shrugged. _Better start now than later._ I then began the trek.

X-X-X

 **About halfway through**

 _God Damn it I'm tired! I think I'll rest up a bit._ I thought as I was walking through some random forest. This forest, to my knowledge and my Scroll, had no name; but I figured that it would be just **filled** with Grimm. So even though I was resting under the shade of a tree, I always kept an eye out for any possible signs of danger. I looked up at the sky and watched the clouds roll by. "You know, this is actually kind of peaceful. I could get used to this." I said to myself smiling. It was then I heard something growling nearby. I sighed. "Peaceful moments can never last forever in the work of a Huntsman; or on Remnant for that matter." I got up from the spot I was at; activated my armor, the left shield, and drew Black Lightning; and got into a make-shift defensive battle stance. As the sounds got louder, I realized something important. _Shit! I've never fought any Grimm before. Well, let's hope I don't kill myself._ I almost panicked, but calmed myself in order to focus on the task at hand. It was then that four Beowolves surrounded me with one Alpha Beowolf circling. My only "experience" with Beowolves is through the show. They don't look intimidating on a computer screen; but in-person, they look **frightening**.

"Well then," I said with a surprising amount of calmness in my voice as I raised my shield over my body with Black Lightning covering my right-side, "Who's first?"

* * *

 **The arbitrary cliffhanger Chapter!**

 **Although now that I think about it, I basically told you guys how this entire story and its sequel was going to play out. So this doesn't really seem like a cliffhanger. I also feel like this Chapter isn't that long compared to my previous two. Oh Well.**

 **I'm about to fight my first set of Grimm.**

 **But I digress.**

 **Another Chapter under my belt. Thanks for reading!**

 **Once again, please send me your OC submissions. You can create any kind of OCs as well as submit more than one.**

 **I'm going to start working on the next Chapter now.**

 **This has been TTOA, and I will see you all in Chapter 4.**

 **Peace!**


	4. I Begin my Training

**Chapter 4: I Begin my Training**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum**

 **I also own nothing else mentioned in this Chapter but myself.**

* * *

 **Thank god my writer's block is gone.**

 **Hey There Guys and Gals! TheTriforceofAwesomeness here with the newest Chapter.**

 **After going ahead and thinking about things for a bit, I feel like I am a bit impatient when it comes to writing and the time between Chapter uploads. I have a habit of making these relatively close to one another because I like making frequent uploads. In comparison to my YouTube Channel, where I rarely upload videos that are sometimes months apart, uploading Chapters comes by a lot quicker. My mindset is usually once I come up with something, I want to write it down before I forget about it. I think that is the reason why I may seem to rush this story, even though I am always asking for OCs, I think the more Chapters I upload the less time I give you guys to come up with OCs for this story. Half the time I just pull one out of nowhere instead of waiting for people to submit them to me. It just shows how people my age, and I guess my generation as a whole, are so used to things coming instantly that we don't have patience for anything. I think I should hold out a bit before I write Chapters to give you readers time to think of OCs since I imagine they can take a while to do.**

 **But enough of my rambling! You came here to read the Chapter.**

 **Let's get to it!**

* * *

 **One last thing. The entire action-sequence as well as the bulk of this Chapter was thought of while taking a dump on the toilet, so if this Chapter is shit you now know why XP.**

* * *

"Speech"

 _Thought_

 ***** … ***** Actions within dialogue

'Air quotes'

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Narration** /Log_

 **[#] Author's Comments which will be shown at the official end of the Chapter and before the ending A/N.**

X-X-X Scene change

* * *

 _ **Last time on RWBY: The Hunter from Earth**_

 _ **Opallios began the journey to meet the person who will train him for the next two years. He was about halfway there when he decided to rest. It wasn't long before a small pack of Beowolves show up. With four surrounding him and an Alpha circling, Opallios readied himself for his first battle against the Creatures of Grimm...**_

* * *

"Who's first?" I said with a surprising amount of calmness in my voice.

If it wasn't clear enough, I am **fucking terrified** at the moment. Here I am about to take on the some Grimm, and I have the **nerve** to try to sound tough? But none the less, I was confident that I could somehow pull this off. I placed my worries to the back of my mind and paid attention to my motion tracker on my HUD to see which Beowolf will attack first. I heard a low growl come from my left side as the first of the Beowolves charged me. Seeing it, I pivoted my body so I faced it, but then my motion tracker caught one from the exposed right side of my blind-spot be coming at me. The one I faced swung a claw at me, which I caught with my shield, but I noticed the one in my blind-spot approaching me, so I took my current shield-arm and covered the right side of me. I put some of my weight into pushing the Grimm back; following through the motion to turn to it and I swung Black Lightning along the side of its face while still keeping my shield relatively close to my body to protect myself. Hitting the Grimm in its face, it went back a few meters, but it was only stunned. _I think my Semblance works on Grimm. Good to know._ My thoughts refocused. The one that attacked me first was above, I quickly rolled out of the way and brought my mace down on its head, using a bit of my aura to strengthen the attack. There was a bone cracking sound as the Grimm hit the ground with a thud. I saw the first the one I hit approaching me with the third one on my top left coming as well. I blocked the one I hit with my shield and thrust my mace into an exposed area on its body. The Beowolf drew back, but I was quickly upon it and brought my mace along its face as well. It too fell with a thud. It was just then the third one came up to me jaws open. I was able to turn around just in time to block its attack and in order to give me some distance, I used an aura-powered kick to send it flying into a tree. I quickly went after it and used even more of my aura to hit the Beowolf before it had time to counter. With the third dead, I saw the last of the normal Beowolves come at me with a right paw. I was somehow able to parry it with my mace. I then bashed my shield against it and brought it down with another strike from my mace. _Four down, one Alpha to go. Aura is around the high yellow. I need to finish this quickly._ I turned to the Alpha to see it roar in anger. It stood over me and brought down both of its claws on me. I somehow was able to block it with extra support of my mace against it, but it surprised me by taking its right claw and sending me into a nearby tree. I slowly got up and found out my aura was in the low yellow almost orange. The Alpha was standing there; taunting me as if to say "bring it!"

 _Damn it! I need a plan!_ Thinking for a bit, I came up with something. _I hope to God all of times I played Ocarina of Time will pay off. _With a battle-cry, I brought my shield up and charged the Alpha, hoping that it doesn't move. I peeked over my shield to see it raise its left claw at me. As if time was slowing down, I started to slide beneath it, successfully blocking the attack with my shield, and came up behind it. Quickly getting up from being behind the startled Alpha, I brought my mace up.

Quoting an attack from one of my favorite characters from _Xenoblade Chronicles_ I yelled, " **SUMMON BOLT!** " I brought my mace down and as soon as I made impact with the Alpha's skull, a bolt of lightning appeared. What was left of the Alpha was a charred form as it hit the ground. Breathing heavily, "Holy ***** pant ***** shit ***** pant *****. I can't ***** pant ***** believe ***** pant ***** that worked." I looked around and saw that the Beowolves were beginning to dissolve. I glanced at my aura and found it to be border-lining red. _Fuck. That took a lot out of me._ I smiled. _If I lose that much aura when it was only five Beowolves, I won't be able to survive for much longer._ I slowly made my way over to where I placed my backpack with all of my clothes, which wasn't damaged at all surprisingly, and glanced at my mini map to see where I needed to go. I left as quickly as I could so no more Grimm would show up. _Damn it! I'm not going to make it at this rate. I feel myself losing consciousness._ I was only able to travel a short distance, but before I went ahead and blacked out, I used the Lightning Dust inside of me to encase myself and my belongings to electrocute looters or other creatures coming to my soon-to-be unconscious body. It was then I fell to the ground and darkness overtook me.

X-X-X

 **Unknown Location**

I slowly opened my eyes and I immediately noticed I wasn't where I was when I lost consciousness. I tried to get up, but I could barely move. _Seems like my aura is still low. But where am I? Who or what found me?_

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up. I'm surprised you held on for so long." an unknown, but clearly masculine voice spoke to me.

I looked around, and I heard the owner of the voice approaching me from around the corner. The man that stood in the doorway was, once again, someone I would see in an RPG. His attire reminded me of Aragorn from the _Lord of the Rings_ (specifically _Fellowship of the Ring_ ); complete with a ranger hood, a bastard sword **[1]** , and the classic middle-aged stubble. His physique was very muscular, but not so much that he looked brutish, more of someone who has seen lots of combat. I sighed. _Here is **another** person who I don't want to cross._

He said, "Now that you are awake, mind telling me what someone like you is doing all the way out here?"

I looked up at him, "I'm supposed to meet someone here to train me. His location was only given to me by Sathrall the Blacksmith."

The man raised his eyebrows, "Sathrall sent you? I haven't heard his name in a while. How is he doing these days?"

"He's doing fine. He was the one who created my armor and my weapons. He even unlocked my aura."

"Well then, you have come to the right place. Not many people come out here so far into Grimm territory." He smiled. "I also saw your battle with those Beowolves. Do you have any combat experience?"

I shook my head. "I was only very lucky; and I think my semblance had something to do with it. I was lucky to make it out of there alive. This is why I am looking for training. If I struggle so much against five Beowolves, I need to get stronger if I am going to continue to go into this line of work as a Huntsman."

He nodded. "Forgive me for my lack of manners; my name is Arthur Quill, but you will refer to me as Master or Sir." He then made a ghost of a smile. "What do you think your training is going to be like?"

"Well Sir, if you want my honest opinion, I don't think you are going to immediately start the training with combat. I imagine it to be mostly about survival tactics such as tracking, building shelters, things like that. I think you will make me do tasks around the cabin as well as tasks in the city, stuff that may seem meaningless to those who are really naive, but do have a hidden meaning behind them. After however long that takes, I think having some training in aura would be the next logical step since aura is the very thing that is keeping me alive, so I also think I am going to be training without my armor so I can be able to fight without it. I would imagine I would need to make a secondary weapon in such a case. After grilling me about aura, it would be in towards the end of the two years that you will actually teach me combat training." I finished.

There were five minutes of pure silence, and the look on my Master's face was priceless. "Well, that leaves a lot less explaining on my part. You're the first one to come up with an actually reasonable training method. You are certainly smarter than I thought you were. This actually might be enjoyable for once."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I watched a lot of TV and read a lot of books."

"You don't look like someone who would enjoy a good book."

I smirked. "You wouldn't be the first one to tell me that Master. But I do **a lot** of reading. I only watch TV on occasion. I actually plan on going to the bookstore back in Vale to buy some whenever I will have the time."

"People these days have a lesser appreciation for reading. It's sad really. I wish more people did read. You can learn a lot from a good book." my Master sighed with a solemn expression.

I nodded. "I totally agree Master. I've seen too many similar cases back home."

"I guess now you should get something to eat. I made some rabbit stew in the kitchen. Help yourself to as much as you want. Then I want you to get some rest. You'll going to need to be at full strength when we start." he told me.

I had a huge grin on my face. "Thanks Master, I will accept your hospitality." I then proceeded to the kitchen. I knew where it was due to its incredible aroma.

As I took some of the stew in a wooden bowl, I looked at it. _I never had rabbit before. This should be interesting._ I took a spoonful, blew on it for a bit, and took a bite. I could instantly taste the flavors. The meat was amazing; the various chopped vegetables were to my liking, and I don't even like vegetables all that much; I was practically inhaling the rest of the stew. _**Oh My God** this is **AMAZING!**_ I squealed internally as to how good the food tasted.

Master walked in and he saw the sight before him. He chuckled. "I knew you would be hungry, but I didn't think you were **that** hungry."

In-between mouthfuls, I managed to say, "It's true I'm hungry, but I also haven't eaten anything in a long time. One thing to know about me is that if there is something I like, I practically inhale it. You got to teach me how to make this."

"I'll be happy to teach you. It's good to see someone enjoys my cooking." He looks at my empty bowl. "Are you done now?"

 ***** BBUURRRRRRRP ***** "Yeah, I think I'm done. That was great."

"Alright then. Head upstairs and get some sleep. Your room is the second one on the right."

I yawned. "I think I will Master."

I then proceeded to head upstairs to get some sleep, but only after my usual journal entry.

X-X-X

 **Day One of Training**

I woke up when a tiny sliver of light entered the room. I check my Scroll and saw it was about 5 A.M. I sighed as I got up to go ahead and get ready for the first day of training. Now don't get me wrong, I am actually a morning person, I just don't like _every_ morning. After I did my daily routine, I got my stuff that what I would think I would need. My Master got downstairs about 15 minutes after I was already downstairs.

"Well I'll be, I didn't expect you to be up this early." he said genuinely surprised.

I looked up at him as I rubbed some of the sleep out of my eyes, "Yeah, I'm actually am a morning person. My family always found it weird that I can wake up so early despite the fact that I am also an incredibly deep sleeper." I paused as I looked around the kitchen, "Do you drink coffee? I was hoping to make a cup."

"Yeah, I make coffee. Didn't expect you to like that either." He started to brew up some, "I'm learning more and more about you with every conversation, and it's only the first day."

He handed me a cup, I took in the sweet aroma of coffee. Taking a sip as the warmness filled my body and woke me up, "Going back to me being a deep sleeper, there have been times when I am in such a deep sleep that people around me thought I had passed out."

"Then you must **really** be a deep sleeper; but you are also a morning person. You're like a walking oxymoron." Master said with a chuckle as he took a sip of his own cup.

Finishing off the rest of my coffee, I placed my cup in the sink. "So then, what would you like me to take care of first Sir?"

He thought about it for a bit before answering, "I want you to go ahead and clean up the dishes, then I want you to sweep up the dust in the cabin – you'll find the broom in the closest left of the bathroom – then I want you to go out in the back and chop some logs for firewood. Come back by noon for your next set of tasks."

I nodded and began to work. To make a long story short **[2]** , I did the first two tasks in roughly an hour and the task that took up most of my time was getting the firewood. Being someone who has done very little manual labor despite not actually minding it at all, it took some time to create enough firewood. I was able to stack some of it to a reasonable height. I actually had to take off my shirt because I would've overheated. I looked up at the sun's position and noticed it was nearly noon. I decided to cut a few more pieces of wood before heading inside. I looked down at my shirtless body not really impressed with how I looked. I'm generally not someone who likes strutting about having people check me out. There even isn't anything of interest about my body, unless the thing you would count would be I don't eat much so you could see my rib-cage. _I can't believe I'm going to agree with what my Mom was always telling me; I need to eat more. I also need to take Dad's advice about working out._ I chuckled. _Even across dimensions, their wisdom lives on._ I started to head back inside. _Maybe I can get Master to give me some more tasks for me to do, maybe head into town to fetch some things._

Inside the cabin, I found Master looking over some books. "Would you like me to dust off the books? They look like they are worth a lot, both in money and in sentimental value."

He looked at me, "I would appreciate that. Thanks. After you are done, I would like you to go ahead and head into Vale and get me some ingredients from the food market."

"You got it Master. Do you have any preferences for the kinds of food you want me to get?" I asked as I began to carefully clean the books.

He nodded, "I'll have a list ready for you when you're done dusting. Once again, thanks a lot for cleaning my books. I'll let you read a few of them. I honestly think you do have an appreciation for reading. I'll be more than happy to share my collection with a fellow reader."

I spent about half an hour cleaning and dusting off the books before I was satisfied with my results. I walked back into the kitchen and noticed that Master was gone. _Most likely doing stuff._ I saw the list he left for me on the table. There was also some Lien next to the list. _Doesn't seem like much for me to get. There seems to be enough Lien to pay for it as well._ "I guess I better get going," I said to myself. I put my hoodie on, placed the Lien in my pocket, and slung my backpack over my shoulder as I headed out. _**Fuck** , I got to make that five mile trek again. I hope I don't get lost this time._

X-X-X

 **Back in Vale**

 _Jesus Christ that was a **long way** ; I need to get some food. But, am I going to have enough Lien to pay for something to eat as well as the list? Maybe there is a cafe I can head over to._ Remembering the one I went to when I first came to this world, I headed over there. I walked inside and found my previous spot was open, so I sat there. A few minutes later, someone came by and asked for my order. I glanced up at who it was and smiled.

"Hey Catlin! It sure has been awhile, how are you?" I asked as I put my hood down so she could see my face.

"Oh hi Opallios! I'm doing great! It's so good to see a familiar face." She said with a smile. "I was thinking you forgot about me."

"I couldn't forget about you. Who else is going to brighten up my day?"

We shared a laugh. "So, the usual then?"

"You got it."

"Alright, I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

I nodded and she went to go fill in my order.

 _She's really nice. I hope her days are getting better._ I smiled to myself. _I still need to get the food for Master. I think I'll be back before dark. Man, making that trek is going to be a pain. I hope I don't encounter anything too dangerous._

Catlin came back with my order and I happily munched on my sandwich. She actually sat across from me. I was a bit surprised by this. Swallowing my food, "Are you on break right now?"

"Yeah, I am. I got a few minutes before I need to go back. I wanted to ask you something."

"What's up?"

"What brings you back in Vale?"

"I'm doing some training before I go ahead and attend Beacon. My Master wanted me to get some food, and I have to make a five mile walk there and back every time. It's not too bad, but as I continue to train, five miles won't feel like much."

She nodded. "I hope your training goes well. I have a more personal question though," she asked as if she was going to regret it.

I looked at her, "I don't mind it. If you are uncomfortable with asking it I understand."

She looked at me, and I noticed her face was starting to turn red. "H-How old are you?"

"I'm 19. I'll be 20 within a few months."

"R-Really? You don't look like your 19. You look to be 21."

I was actually surprised by that. "I haven't started shaving, so I guess I look a bit older. My mom always said I had a baby-face despite my age." I said with a chuckle.

She smiled. "I didn't think you would look to be that young." She frowned, "Wait a minute, you haven't attended Beacon yet?"

"Not yet, but I plan to in a couple of years."

"You'll be 21 when you attend. You are okay with being that old as a first-year student?"

"I'm perfectly okay with it. Yes it will be weird and I know I will stick out like a sore thumb, but it is something I will deal with. I haven't actually had any proper training before I started, and I would rather be a 21 year-old first-year with a bit of training than attend now with no training at all." I took a sip of my water. "The one thing that will be weird for me is making friends being that I will be a 21 year-old with a bunch of 17 year-olds. I'll deal with it somehow."

"Okay then. Thanks for answering my questions. Can I get anything else for you?"

"Nah. That will be all. I should probably go and get the food for my Master. I'll be sure to come by here again when I am able."

She smiled. "Thanks. You're always welcome here."

I smiled. I paid for the food and checked my Scroll to see where the food market was so I could get the list complete. _Doesn't seem to be too far. Hey, I'll pass by Jason on the way there! I should go ahead and say hi._ I made my way over to the food market, but not before stopping at The Wolf of the Moon. I walked inside and I saw Jason behind the counter. He turned around and looked at me.

"Dude! It's been awhile! How are things going?"

"Things are going pretty well. I just came by to say hi since I am on an errand at the moment."

"What are you doing if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm just going to the food market to get, well food, for my Master. I started my training today. I'm just doing simple tasks. I'm pretty sure the real training will begin soon though. How's the shop doing?"

"It's going well. I've been keeping it clean as much as I can. I do hope you come back working here though. It gets lonely sometimes."

"I'll try to come back here when I can, but between training and attending Beacon in the future, I might not be able to. I'll try to see when I start Beacon if I can get Ozpin to be flexible with my schedule so I can work here."

"That would be nice. Well, I don't want to keep you. Thanks again for stopping by!"

"No problem. I'll visit again sometime." I left the store and headed over to the food market.

 **One food market trip later**

 _Looks like I had just enough money to pay for the food. I even got everything on the list._ Carefully placing the stuff in my backpack, I checked my Scroll and saw that it was about a quarter after three. _I wanted to stop by the bookstore as well as the record store, but I should probably head back 'home' before it gets dark. Can't keep my Master waiting for me._ I went ahead and started to make the trek back to his cabin.

 **A few hours and one eight kilometer walk later**

I walked inside and carefully set my backpack on the table as I went ahead and pulled out the groceries. Master walked in and helped me out as we stacked the shelves and filled up the fridge.

"You're a bit late. Any reason why?"

"Had to get some food when I went to Vale. Was too tired to go and head back. Met up with some people I knew. After I did that, I got everything on the list. Sorry about that Master."

"It's fine. At least you are back in one piece. I'm going to teach you how to cook. If there is still some light outside, I will teach you about tracking animals as well as a bit of alchemy. We will continue that How does that sound?"

"I didn't think alchemy was a thing in the work of a Huntsman, although I am sure there is some value to it. With aura being a main source of healing, I'm going to guess alchemy kind of went away. I think it'll be cool to practice a forgotten art."

"Glad to see you agree." We finished putting everything up. "Now then, let me teach you how to cook."

 **Imagine a cooking training session**

After about an hour or so, we tried out how I made the meal. Taking a bite of it, "I'm impressed, you did pretty well for your first time. The only thing wrong with it is that your meat is a tiny bit overcooked, but it is nothing too major. Well done."

I scratched the back if my head, "I'm happy I did well on the first try." Sitting down and eating a bit of my stew. _Huh, I guess it is a bit overcooked. Not bad at all._ We ate in silence as the meal was good enough so we didn't have to talk. After we both finished, I gathered up the dishes and went over to the sink to wash them.

Master then told me, "It's still light outside, so after you are done with the dishes we'll head out and I'll teach you how to track and a bit about alchemy."

I nodded. It took me about ten minutes to finish up the dishes. I then followed Master to where he wanted me to go. I wasn't sure how long we walked, but he signaled for me to halt my walk. He motioned for me to come near him as he crouched to the ground. I slowly walked over to him and crouched down as well.

"What do you notice here?"

I looked closely at the ground, "It looks like something went through here. There are multiple tracks going eastward. Although the type of animal that went through here is unclear to me, I am going to assume from the amount of visible prints and the space between the prints that it is a pack of Beowolves."

"You are correct. These are Beowolf tracks. As far as the amount of them in this pack, I can tell that there are about 15 of them and three of them are Alphas. We will follow them until the trail runs cold, but **not** engage them. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal Sir."

"Very well. Let's move."

I nodded and we headed in the direction of the Beowolves.

 **Sometime later**

We followed the trail for awhile and we actually were able to locate a den where they were most likely staying at. We stayed a safe distance away from the den. Master handed me a knife and instructed me to mark where this is. I decided to mark a nearby tree, careful not to make a lot of noise so we didn't alert them, and handed him back the knife. With both of us satisfied, we made our way back.

On our way back, I mumbled to myself, "This would be a good time to master Tree Climbing."

Master looked at me, "What was that? Did you say something?"

I looked back at him. "Yeah, I want to master Tree Climbing. It's a technique where I would use my aura to walk up trees. If I were to master it, I could travel by tree tops as well as stand on any solid surface. With enough training I can take it a few steps further and use my aura to walk on water and even on air."

He was silent for a few minutes. "That's actually an interesting idea. I never though of using aura like that. I would be more than happy to help you control your aura if you think you can master it. I also have a few books that I want you to read tomorrow. I have multiple copies of them, so you can keep them."

"Thanks! I'll be sure to read those when I have time." I paused, "I will have time to read, right Master?"

He had a small smile, "I think I can squeeze in a few hours to be spent reading. I think it will do us both some good. I also think one of the books you'll be keeping will be better for you to learn about alchemy."

I smiled as well. _At last! I'll be able to read again!_

"But, you need to get some sleep. I'll let you read the books tomorrow."

We made it back to the cabin at around 9 P.M. I was exhausted, so I made my way to my room and made my usual journal entry before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 **[Author's Comments]**

 **[1] A type of sword that can be used with one hand or two.**

 **[2] Oh the irony of that statement.**

* * *

 **Well then. There goes another Chapter.**

 **I changed the format slightly to try and make this easier on the eyes for you to read. If this format is okay, I will change all of the previous Chapters and make it how I will write my stories. Let me know what you think of it.**

 **As I said before, I will try to slow down the frequency of the Chapters I write to give you time to come up with OCs for this story. I _really_ hope I can get some more OCs before this goes too far; however, I have no idea when I am going to decide to start Beacon. When I think I have enough OCs, I will let you all know.**

 **But nonetheless, I hope that I can get some more since I am absolutely _terrible_ with writing OCs; _especially_ with coming up with a detailed appearance and weapons and personalities.**

 **I seriously cannot do this on my own. I am always upset with myself when I can't think of how I want an OC to be or what they look like. Most of them would be from things I would recognize such as a movie or video game character; in other words, not a very _original_ _character_.**

 **This is why I feel like I am _begging_ for your help. It is always so upsetting for me to see people come up with so many things that make me go "I wish I thought of something like that" or "What an awesome idea"**

 **If you guys think I'm doing alright with my current OCs, although they are mostly minor characters, then I won't go on a break. I do honestly think I need help. But I will do what I can.  
**

 **This has been TheTriforceofAwesomeness, and I will see you in Chapter 5. Someday.**

 **Peace!**


	5. Training Continues

**Chapter 5: Training Continues**

* * *

 **RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum. I obviously don't own any of it or any other mentioned franchises.**

* * *

 **Hey there guys and gals! TTOA here with a new Chapter!**

 **On the 4th of July of 2015 at 9:45 PM EST, I just updated the previous Chapters to fit the format of Chapter 4 (So I just fixed the alignment of my Author's Notes and made them Double-Spaced when I could). It'll be the format I use for all of my Chapters.**

 **In other news, as I am writing this Chapter, 4th of July 2015 at 9:50 PM EST, I am listening to some music to help me write. Everyone has their own tastes, bur I think mine is an... _interesting_ choice. I am listen to some melodic death metal. It is actually a genre (or is it considered a sub-genre?) I _just_ got into around seven hours ago. I find it to be surprisingly fun to listen to. The music is currently from a YouTube video that is just under five hours. I am no expert on this kind of stuff, but I really like a lot of the songs listed in this Melodic Death Metal Megamix as the video is called. If you want to know give it a listen, the video is by YouTuber UnknownMelodeath (I'll have the link on my Profile Page when I upload this Chapter; whenever that is). I _might_ use some of the songs in future stories.**

 **I am still accepting requests for OCs. As I said in Chapter 4, the time between Chapter uploads will become less frequent due to the amount of OCs I need and to give you guys/gals time to make some up to be added to this story.**

* * *

 **(October 16 2015) I heard I can't have A/N's in the Chapter as it breaks the flow of the story, so I have now placed them at the end and added numbers at points that I want to point out. This is what it will be like for every Chapter of all my stories.**

 **Now on with the Chapter!**

* * *

"Speech"

 _Thought_

*…* Actions within dialogue

'Air Quotes'

{...} Letters and Notes

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Narration** /Log_

 **[#] Author's Comments which will be shown at the official end of the Chapter and before the ending A/N.**

X-X-X Scene change

* * *

 _Opallios's Log # I'm not keeping track anymore_

 _Day # which doesn't matter by this point since I think I'm not leaving anytime soon_

 _I began my training with Master today. He isn't really strict, but the tasks he gave me on the first day – although not a whole lot of work – proven to be difficult for someone such as myself who barely worked out before. I'm sure the tasks will be increasing in difficulty as time goes on, I do have two years of training to get through before I go to Beacon after all. Master so far has taught me some basic tracking as well as a tiny smidget of alchemy (an art I want to get into). He promised me tomorrow he'd give me some books to read (at last I get to see what kind of books this world has). I have no idea what training holds for tomorrow, but I hope that I can get some aura training in before the first year of training is over so I can hopefully have more focus on my combat. Speaking of tomorrow, I think I'll start my day a bit differently..._

* * *

 **Day Two of Training**

As per usual, I woke up at 5 AM and did my morning routine, but I decided not to change out of my pajamas this time. I made myself a cup of coffee and decided to do some sit-ups and push-ups until Master called me for today's tasks. Being someone who still has barely done **any kind** of work out, I was obviously nervous about doing this. _Better to begin sooner than later._ I thought as I made my way to the back of the cabin.

Being 5 AM reminded me how much light there was. I am not sure how seasons work on Remnant, but my assumption was that the time of year would be about mid-to-late July. I made a mental note as I was 'working out' to ask Master if he has a calendar for me to look at. I was able to about 65 sit-ups and about 53 push-ups within a couple of hours before I gave up for that morning **[1]**. Seeing how I was sweating, I decided to go ahead and take a quick shower. Walking inside, I saw Master was sitting at the kitchen table with an extra plate of food consisting of bacon, toast, and scrambled eggs on the table.

"I was wondering where you were. Your food is starting to get cold. I'm guessing you were outside – training by the looks of it."

I smiled tiredly, "Yeah I was Master. Sorry about not letting you know sooner. I wasn't sure when you were going to be downstairs, so I made myself some coffee and decided to go and try to get my body to get better. I hope you don't mind me doing this."

"I don't mind at all, but I will make it tougher for you, as I will be supervising your progress. It looks like you did a lot; but the way you are now, compared to a trained Huntsman, your "a lot" is a warm-up to them."

"Then I guess I'll have to work twice as hard," I replied, "But I need to take a shower first. I don't want to stink up the place."

"You go do that. Don't let your food be too cold."

I nodded as I headed upstairs. I undressed and as I stepped into the warm water, I thought about my current situation.

 _Here I am, training to become a warrior to fight monsters. I have never worked out in my life, apart from what was required at school, and I actually like the idea of being stronger. I'm not self-conscious about my body, but I have to admit I could use a bit more muscle (But doesn't that **technically** make me self-conscious? Looks like I can add hypocrite to my list of traits). To think I will actually be able to handle myself in a fight. I wish I could tell my family and friends about this, but I may not ever see them again. I wonder what they are thinking about right now since I have been gone for God knows how long. Wow, I even talk to myself in my thoughts. I am **weird**._ I stayed under the water for a couple more minutes before stepping out, drying myself off, and getting into my clothes to head back to go and eat.

I went back downstairs to find out that my food was indeed cold, but I didn't care since I was hungry. An idea came to my mind as to how I could possibly heat up my food. I carefully drew up a bit of my lightning Dust into my index finger and pointed at my food. There was a spark that briefly appeared and I flinched back afraid that the food would explode in my face. When it didn't I carefully picked up my fork and took a bite of my scrambled eggs. As I took the bite, there was a shock in my mouth that followed and I nearly choked on my food.

After drinking some water, I said through coughing fits, "*Cough* **Jesus Fucking Christ!** *Cough* I nearly died!" I noticed however, that the food was warm and it tasted good. "If I can heat up my food like that, I'll have to get used to that aftershock." _Heh; aftershock. Puns._ I chuckled to myself as I ate the rest of my heated up food. I cleaned my plate and washed out my glass and placed them both in the sink. I noticed that there was a note from Master next to the sink.

{Opallios, I needed to go deliver some supplies to a nearby village. This would normally be a task I would've given to you, but I decided to be generous and have you take your shower and eat your food. I want you to read the books I've left for you in the living room – remember those are for you to keep – and since I will not be back until late evening, there are a couple of cookbooks for you to make your own meals for when you are hungry (you should have enough ingredients to make most of them). Despite me letting you read the books, I want you to head out back and do 80 sit-ups, 90 push-ups, and cut some more firewood until I get back.}

"I knew he wasn't going to let me off the hook that easy." Placing the note in my pocket, I headed into the living room to see what books he left me to read. I was able to find them on a dining table, and the titles of them seemed familiar to me for some reason. The titles were as follows: { _A Herbalist's Guide to Remnant};_ { _Remnant's Beastiary: Beowolf}_ (there were others of similar titles, but for the Boarbatusk; Nevermore; Ursa; King Taijitu; Death Stalker; as well as some other Grimm I've never seen before in canon); { _Mace Etiquette}; {Controlling Aura}; {The Red Book of Riddles}_ and lastly, { _The Yellow Book of Riddles}_.

"Why do I get the feeling I've seen these books before? I really shouldn't dwell on it. But then again, I thought the same thing about the package that sent me here, and look how **that** turned out." I checked my Scroll and saw it was only 8:32, so I decided to honestly not think about the familiarity of the books. I found an armchair to sit in and decided to read { _A Herbalist's Guide to Remnant}_ for a bit.

 **Five hours later [2]**

As I was reading the book, I found out that it was mostly about various alchemy ingredients and how a certain ingredient can be combined with others to make special medicines as well as potions and even some poisons. Each item had a description along with some details as to where to find it and what is commonly combined with it. I figured Master gave me this book in order to teach me about alchemy, and even though I think it's better to have hands-on training, I understood most of the things in this book. I decided to take a break and make myself something to eat because I could hear my stomach rumbling. I placed the alchemy book down and grabbed one of the cookbooks. I skimmed through it until I found a recipe for Venison Stew. It required some venison (most likely from a deer or something), some potatoes, leeks, and some salt. Again, this seemed very familiar, but I looked in the various cabinets in the kitchen and found everything except the venison. I looked around for a few minutes before I found some stocked in a freezer. I checked the cookbook periodically to see how to prepare the dish. It took me about half an hour before the cookbook told me it was ready, but I let it sit for an extra three minutes to be safe because I wasn't sure how Master's pots handled meals. I looked at my food and found it to be steaming. I poured some into a bowl and brought it over to the kitchen table. I sat down and took a spoonful of it after blowing on it for a bit. I found out that I cooked it very well. _Wow, I **actually** did a good job. I think the meat wasn't overcooked at all. I'll have to save that recipe. It is also a very filling meal. _ I finished the rest that was in my bowl and decided to save the rest for Master when he got back, so I left it in the pot, but set it aside with the lid on it. After letting my food settle for about 12 or so minutes, I figured it would be time to do the exercises Master wanted me to do. Even though I could obviously skip it and lie about how I did it, but I was pretty sure he would see straight through that and I also wanted to get some exercise in. I headed out back and attempted to do what Master wanted me to do.

I noticed it took me just under two hours to complete both the sit-ups and the push-ups, slightly less time than when I started earlier in the morning today, that told me I was slowly making progress. My unused muscles were screaming to take a break, but I needed to continue my training. I headed to the chopping log and decided to cut firewood for the rest of my time; however long that was going to be.

I wasn't paying attention to most of the things around me, but I heard Master calling me. It jolted me out of my training trance. I looked around and noticed that it was getting dark out here. I glanced at the stacks of wood I chopped, and saw the piles were about as tall as me. I decided to head back inside. I asked Master if everything turned out alright. He nodded and noticed that the stew I made. He already had some when he called me back inside and complemented on how good it was. I told him I didn't get very far in my books due to me making notes in { _A Herbalist's Guide to Remnant}_. He told me to take my time with the books since they were mine to keep.

"I'm going to give you a lot more tasks tomorrow, and hopefully we will be able to go ahead and train your aura," he told me.

I nodded and made my way upstairs. I did what I normally did and went to sleep.

 **Day Three of Training**

I woke up at my usual time and got dressed and made my way downstairs. I went out back after drinking some coffee and tried to do as many sit-ups and push-ups as I could. After a couple of hours, I was able to do 90 and 100 respectively; however, I didn't think that was enough, so I went over to a nearby tree and decided to punch and kick it as much as I could without my armor. _I got to keep training if I am going to survive out here._ I continued to punch and kick the tree even after the skin on my knuckles started to bleed. I kept going for another couple of hours until my body could barely move. I slowly made my way back to the cabin where I found Master looking at me with a frown on his face.

"You shouldn't be pushing yourself like that. If you wanted close-quarters combat training, you could have just asked," he said with a hint of concern.

"I want to use my muscles that I don't use all that often. Even if I am in pain, I will continue to train." I said.

"-And I have no problem with that, but over-exerting yourself will do more harm than good. For now, I want you to go ahead and just do the tasks I give you. **I** will decide when **I** will teach you about combat. Am I **clear**?"

I was silent for a bit. I sighed, "Yes Sir. What would you want me to do now?"

Satisfied with my answer, "We are going to go back to that Beowolf den we discovered a couple of day ago and see if their whereabouts have changed. We will then head to a village where you will be providing assistance wherever you are needed. After that, I want you to go back to read some of the books." he explained to me and he turned around to leave.

I quickly followed him. After a bit of walking, he quietly asked me if I knew where to go, not because he didn't know, but to see if I remembered. I thought for a bit and I checked my surroundings to get my bearings. I looked at the position of the shadows of the trees, but I didn't get much from it. I decided to go with my gut and continued to head eastward. After a couple of minutes, I could smell something dead, and I saw in the distance some large stones. I made my way over there as quietly as I could. It was then I found the tree that I marked that I knew that we found the den. Master and I waited and watched as the Beowolves went in and out of the cave on occasion, not sensing our presence. I noticed that the behavioral patterns of the Beowolves were similar to actual wolves back home, and I was amazed that we were able to be so close to them with being spotted or smelled. Master beckoned me to follow him back after all of them went inside the cave.

I went ahead and turned around, but as luck would have it, I stepped on a branch.*SNAP* _Shit._ I froze. Master eyed me, and he slowly drew his weapon as we both heard the Beowolves growling. He made a motion for me to get behind him since I didn't have my armor on me or Black Lightning since this was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission and I thought that carrying them would make too much noise. _Shows how **wrong** I was._

The Beowolves came up from the bushes and I leaped to the side while Master charged them. I saw him take out the first Beowolf with no effort. Soon, others began to come from the cave, and I was in awe of the combat skills of Master. He was slicing up the Beowolves like knives through butter, properly countering at critical moments. However, I noticed that there were the three Alphas like Master said, with each one having two smaller Beowolves at their sides, and even though he was able to take down one group and began fighting the second one, the last one was approaching from his blind-spot and I knew that Master would soon be overrun. I was about to call out, but I wanted to do something than just stand here like many characters I've seen in anime. A stupid idea came to mind, and I started to hover my hands over each other as if I was making a charged attack. I could feel the energy building up as I waited for my attack to finish.

I saw Master turn to me to say something, but I didn't hear it as I focused on the last Alpha and shouted, " **LIGHTNING CHAIN!** " and released my hands in an outward motion launching the built-up energy. What followed was something amazing. The 'chain' started when the lightning struck the Alpha like intended, but the lightning continued going **through** the Alpha's chest and the chain linked up with the remaining Beowolves, leaving holes in their chests as well. As soon as I launched the attack, it finished just as quickly. I felt drained, but I was able to save Master. I felt myself falling into unconsciousness and my last sight was Master running over to me.

* * *

 _I woke up and I checked my surroundings. I noticed that I was in a bed. The bed felt familiar to me. I looked around and when my eyes adjusted, I saw that I was in my room and back on Earth. I got out of bed and ran down the stairs. I saw my Mom, Dad, my little sister, and my dog sitting in the living room watching TV, looking like they were in mourning. I tried to go see them, but they kept getting farther away from me. I tried calling out, but no words came out. They started to be enveloped in a bright, almost heavenly-like light, and I tried to follow; but every step I took felt like my ankles were attached to weights. My voiced echoed, " **MOM! DAD! SIS! DAKOTA! I'M HERE! I'M BACK!** " They were getting farther and farther away until I couldn't see them." **WWWWAAIITTTTT! COME BACK! DON'T LEAVE ME! I'M HOME! I'M RIGHT HERE!** " I dropped to my knees. Unable to move anymore, I began to sob._

* * *

"Opallios! Opallios! **Dammit wake up Opallios**!" Master was violently shaking me.

My body was tossing and turning, " **NOOOOOO! DON'T LEAVE! I'M HERE! I'M RIGHT HERE!** " I cried as I curled up into a small ball.

"Opallios **WAKE UP!** " Master shouted.

*!* I shot open my eyes and looked around. I saw that I was back on Remnant in Master's cabin. There were tears still running down my face and I could feel my nose started to bleed from me crying. On instinct, I jerked my head back as I felt some blood leave my nose to end up somewhere and some blood ending up in my mouth as I was forced to have my blood go down my throat. Master saw my nose-bleeding and immediately left to go get something. A few seconds later he came back with a couple of towels and some more pillows. I was sniffling to stop myself from crying and to force the blood back into my nose, which brought me into a coughing fit. Master was able to keep my head elevated with the extra pillows and he placed one of the towels on my forehead with the other one on my neck with them both being cool on touching my skin. I lied down on the pillows and slowly began to calm down, with a couple of sniffles every-now-and-again. Master looked at me with grave concern in his eyes and stayed silent. As I lay here, I was briefly reminded of how this was the exact same way my parents took care of me when I had a nose-bleed. The tears came back even though I thought they were dry and I knew my face stung from the dried up tears on my face. It was about 25 minutes before I was finally calm.

"I'm going to go get you some water." Master said with a tone that was barely audible as he got up to leave. I proceeded to remove the towels from my neck as I felt my body temperature return to its more stable state. He came back with a small cup and another towel as I slowly sat up to take a sip of the water. The water felt good since it furthered calmed me as well as partially remove the metallic taste of my blood from my mouth. We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry if I got my blood on anything," I said quietly.

Master was surprised. "After going through all that, the first thing you tell me is something that can be easily forgiven? You continue to amaze me."

I sighed. "I have a tendency to place others well-being before my own," I finished off the water and used the towel to get the dried blood off my face and I placed both of them to the left of me. "What happened back in the forest? How long was I out?"

Master chuckled. "You actually saved me. You used an extremely large portion of your Lightning Dust to create a new attack that killed the remaining two Alphas and three Beowolves. I was actually about to kill the second Alpha when I felt your aura getting larger. When I turned around, you yelled something and in a flash the remaining Grimm were dead. You blacked out and I had to carry you all the way back to the cabin. About ten minutes later, I heard you crying and screaming, possibly a nightmare, and you were finally able to wake up."

"I can't believe that attack worked. I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to pull it off." I said trying to avoid the elephant in the room.

"You did well Opallios. To pull off an attack using that much aura and Dust is truly amazing. I promise to train to you control your aura in a couple of months, but I need to address something." I broke eye-contact with him. "What was your nightmare about? I need you to tell me."

I hesitated. "I-I-I don't know if I can say it, b-but I-I'll try," I said still shaken up. "I woke up in my hometown. I made my way downstairs and I saw my family watching TV. They all looked like they were mourning. I knew I have been gone for a long time. I tried to call out to them, but they never heard me. I tried to run after them, but I could never reach them." Master gestured for me to continue. "I am **very** far away from them. We lived outside the four kingdoms, but I was separated from them when a storm hit our town. According to the journal I keep, I think it's been about a week-and-a-half and I have never seen them since nor do I think I ever will again."

"I'm sure you'll be able to-"

"NO I WON'T!" There was more silence. "It's **much** more complicated than it seems."

"How so?" I said nothing. Master placed a hand on my shoulder. "Opallios, you can tell me anything and I will listen no matter what it is."

I took a deep breath and I told him everything that has happened to me up to this point: how I am not from Remnant but from Earth, the true reason why I need to keep the Dust-resistant armor, and about why I may never see my family again. I also told him my real name.

I let this sink in for Master since I knew a lot of what I said was hard to believe. He looked at me. "I understand now why you want to train so badly; you want to make something of yourself and live the life you thought you could never live. I am terribly sorry for the loss that you are having. It must be such a heavy burden."

"It really is, but I know that they do miss me. I wish there was someway for me to contact them, even if it is only for a moment."

Master took in a deep breath. "To think that other worlds exist and that you are not from here, yet your knowledge of this world is great. We truly are not alone in the universe."

"The people of my world would say the exact same thing if someone from Remnant came to Earth. Life is funny like that." We shared a laugh.

"Do you prefer to be called by the name you gave yourself or the name you were born with?"

"I honestly would prefer Opallios and I would only liked to be called my Earthly name around others who know of it as well."

" **Does** anyone else know your real name?"

"You are the third one. Ozpin and Glynda were the first." Master nodded before putting a serious look on his face.

"I want you to take a break for the rest of the week. Since you are still shaken up about this, I'll let you off the hook; however, I want you to continue training by next week. When November comes around, we will begin aura training. For now, I still want you to build up some strength before we really begin training. Even though I am giving you the rest of the week off, I would recommend you do at least some training, whatever that may be."

I nodded. I then remembered something important, "What are the days and months like here on Remnant? Are they similar to Earth's?"

"From what you have told me of Earth's cycles, it is the exact same as on Remnant." **[3]**

 _That's one mystery solved_. I decided to go ahead and get some rest. I woke up an hour later feeling like something was missing. _That's right! My journal!_ I was about to get up to go look for it, but I saw it to my left. _Master must have placed it here._ I smiled. I picked it up and stared at it for what seemed like forever. I kept turning it over in my hand as if it held the secrets of the universe. I realized that, along with the clothes I wore when I came to this world, my journal was basically the only thing from home. It made me cherish what little things from home I have here as well as what isn't here compared to home that I took for granted. I made the journal entry a little more personal this time, placed it down, and went back to sleep.

X-X-X

 **The next day [4]**

Once again I woke up at 5 A.M., but then I realized I could sleep in. _I got the rest of the week off. Who am I to not take an opportunity to sleep in?_ I went back to sleep. The next time I opened my eyes, it was 10:30 A.M. I felt that it would be a good time to wake up, so I did my daily routine and went downstairs to make myself a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast, as well as make myself a cup of coffee. I saw Master sitting in the living room reading.

Not looking up from his book, "So you finally decided to get up. If this kind of thing is common, I might not let you slack off do much."

I chuckled. "This **used** to be a common thing I did back home, but that was when I realized how much of a morning person I am. I do enjoy getting some extra sleep, but I also like being up in the morning as well."

"What do you plan on doing today?"

As I put my armor hoodie on, "I'll probably head back to Vale. I'll go see Jason and get some work hours in so I can go ahead and buy some music. I've been wondering what kind of music this world has." I slung my backpack over my shoulder. "Will most likely head to a gym or something to get a workout in. See if there are any small, **legal** jobs I can do around town. Basically I'll try and make some money while getting some stuff."

"Don't be gone for too long. Don't want to find you in the back of some alley or something." he called as I placed Black Lightning by my side.

"I know my limits **and** I have an excellent teacher. I shouldn't have any problems." I said as I left the cabin and made my way over to Vale.

 **Vale**

 _Huh. I'm not as tired from the walk here as I used to be. Looks like the training is beginning to pay off._ I thought to myself as I made my way over to  The Wolf of the Moon. I walked inside and heard that familiar bell ring and saw that the shop was in really good shape. I saw Jason coming from the back of the store and when he saw me, he smiled.

"Hey Opallios! It's good to see you! Are you here to get some more work done, or are you 'just stopping by'?"

I smiled. "I'm still training, but my teacher gave me the rest of the week off, so I decided to come by and get some work done."

"Good to hear! How is your training going if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's going well. I'm just trying to build up some strength at the moment. In November, I'm going to start practicing to control my aura before I go ahead and get some combat training."

He nodded. "Well, if you're here to work, you can start by sweeping up the place as per usual. I'll also need some packages delivered and I would appreciate it if you could do that for me."

"Not a problem boss." I said cheerfully and I began to clean.

It took me about half an hour or so to go ahead and clean up the shop. I saw Jason bringing out a small stack of seven boxes which I assumed to be the packages I needed to deliver. I took note that the top three I could carry on my own, while the rest I could fit in my backpack if I would to carry them individually.

"How many of these are considered fragile?" I asked.

"Only the top three, the rest are not, but the bottom one is the heaviest. I don't mind if you make multiple trips from the places they need to go and back here. If you need directions, you can scan the addresses into your scroll and it will show you the way."

"Cool." I took out my Scroll and scanned all the addresses on the boxes. I carefully took the top one and set it aside while I then proceeded to take the fifth box and place it in my backpack while I went to go grab the first one. "Should there be anyone I need to worry about?" I asked.

Jason thought for a moment, "The only one you need to worry about in terms of hostility would be package number six. That one is going to someone who owns a club or something. Numbers four, five, and seven are a bit far away from Vale if my memory serves me. One through three shouldn't be any trouble, just be careful not to drop them." I nodded and left the store to make my way to my drop off package number one.

As I made my way to the place where the first package was going to go, something crossed my mind. _I should make a scouter-like object. Even though my armor has a built-in map, I need to make one for casual wear. I think I'll make it sunglasses or a hat of some kind. I'll see if there are any books I could read to give me an idea on how to make one. I don't really have any knowledge about making things, but I'm confident I can make **something** with my intelligence that my parents would always say was the best thing about me._ I checked back at my Scroll that was in my pocket, and I noticed I was really close to the first address. I came up onto the house and knocked. The door opened and I was greeted by someone I did not expect.

* * *

 **[Author's Comments]**

 **[1]** **It's about how much I am able to do in real-life as I am now**.

 **[2]** **Yes I can sit and read a book for that long if I find it interesting. Sometimes longer.**

 **[3]** **I honestly don't know if Remnant and Earth are similar in that regard, but I will keep it the same so it isn't so confusing.**

 **[4]** **I'm going to say it's Wednesday. I'll start making a habit of keeping track of the days of the week.**

* * *

 **I'm going to end the Chapter here. I know it's a really weird place for me to end one since all of my other Chapters have ended when I would go to sleep. I am honestly really tired and I just want to go to bed. I find it funny that I started writing this Chapter on July 4th 2015, but don't finish it until the 9th. I think the length can show the amount of time I've spent on it. I could honestly made this longer, but I _really_ need my sleep (It's currently 11:07 P.M. EST at the time of me finishing this sentence).**

 **Who is the mysterious person I meet at the door? Find out in the next Chapter of RWBY: The Hunter from Earth!**

 **This has been TTOA, and I'll see you all next time.**

 **Peace!**


	6. A New Friend

**Chapter 6: A New Friend**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum. All other mentioned franchises are owned by their respective owners. I own nothing but myself.**

* * *

 **WOW it has been a while since my last update. Hello everyone! TTOA here with the next Chapter! Hopefully it ends like my other Chapters. I hope the Chapters are a decent enough length. I am honestly not sure how long I want to make them. Not including the A/N's in the beginning and end of each Chapter, I was thinking maybe 3000 words minimum would be a good starting point (The Chapters "officially" start with my Narrations/Logs), although I can always make them longer. In fact, I would've made Chapter 5 a hell of a lot longer than when I ended it. If you guys think that is a good length or if it's too long/short let me know.**

 **If there is one thing I would like of at least some of you is to leave a review or something. I know it's not required and I don't want to force you, but feedback is what I need so I know what I am doing right or what I am doing wrong. I like it when I see people are interested in what I'm writing, but I don't feel like I'm doing well unless I get some sort of feedback; otherwise I just keep writing how I am with no improvements.**

 **As far as a Beta Reader is concerned, I think I need to contact people to make a request, but I am so introverted and afraid to chat with others that I don't think I can do it. I get all nervous when I look at the Beta Reader page. It is just some sort of feeling I get. It's like I'm here to introduce myself, but I'm afraid of how others react to me. I guess that's the reason why I prefer to be alone in most cases and how I don't interact with others because I don't think people would like me and I am afraid to open myself to others.**

 **My writing isn't really good, and I am truly amazed that you guys are at least interested in what I am doing, but having someone look it over before I mess something up would be nice.**

 **I know I am new at all this, and maybe I don't have the right to ask so much of all of you, but I seriously cannot thank you enough for looking at my story. Maybe I can get somewhere in all this through writing. It has truly been an interesting experience and I think I will have a lot more fun doing this even if I got back with YouTube.**

 **I also have another RWBY story in the works which should be uploaded soon as well as a possible third one that I am thinking of some ideas for.**

 **Sorry for the long A/N. Let's get started with the Chapter.**

* * *

"Speech"

 _Thought_

*…* Actions within dialogue

'Air Quotes'

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Narration** /Log_

 **[#] Author's Comments which will be shown at the official end of the Chapter and before the ending A/N.**

X-X-X Scene change

* * *

 _ **Last time on RWBY: The Hunter from Earth**_

 _ **Opallios continued his training under his Master. During a reconnaissance mission to a previously discovered location, Opallios created a new attack with his lightning Dust and blacked out in the process. A nightmare occurred that reminded him of his life on Earth and of those he left behind. Never in such a state before, he revealed his true identity his Master. Feeling sorry for his student to be in such a state, he gave Opallios the rest of the week off but reminded him that training will resume next week. Opallios decided to go back to working at The Wolf of the Moon in Vale and began delivering packages. He has made it to the first house, and he was greeted by someone he did not expect. Who is the mysterious individual that has caught our hero's attention? Find out, NOW!**_

* * *

I knocked in the door and it opened after a couple of seconds. I was greeted with something I did not expect. What greeted me was a young man who looked **exactly** my age. He bore Asian-styled features that reminded me of Ren in the show although this man was slightly tanned. He was extremely taller than me, looking to be around 6'2, and had a lean, slim muscular build. His straight, slightly long black hair was neatly kept and his eyes had that same black color almost as if his eyes were the night sky. He was wearing a dark green coat with a gray t-shirt along with black cargo pants and some combat boots. He also smelled slightly like cigarettes. I noticed he had a long sword strapped to his side. I stood there like an idiot for what seemed like forever before he spoke.

"Are you going to stand there gawking at me or are you here for something else?" he asked.

Shaking out of my trace, "First off, I **don't** swing that way if that's what your implying; and two, I am here to deliver this package. I was told by my boss that it was fragile." I said as I handed him the package.

He chuckled. "Relax shorty, I was just teasing." He looked at the package. "Sweet! This is the thing I asked for a couple of weeks ago." He said as the package disappeared from his hands.

I raised my eyebrows. "Is your Semblance some kind of pocket dimension? Also, I'm not **that** short."

He smiled, "Okay you're not short. But you are correct about my Semblance. I can store practically anything. The dimension itself is 3mx3mx3m, but I can make it larger at the cost of some of my aura. What about your Semblance?"

"It's kind of like a move-reader. My body adapts to my opponent's fighting style when I am hit. It allows me to block and counter the style's attacks. It also works on Grimm, but since I've only encountered Beowolves, I am not sure it will be effective on all species of Grimm."

"That's pretty cool. Are you a Huntsman or are attending Beacon?"

I shook my head. "Neither. I am training to better myself when I go to Beacon in a couple of years. What about you?"

"Didn't feel like going yet. I figured I could get some more training done before I attend. I was also thinking about going in a couple of years. Looks like we will be going the same year." He paused. "How old are you by the way?"

"I'm 19. I'll be 20 in a couple of months."

"Wow, you're the same age as me, although I think I'm older. What month were you born?"

"October. You?"

"September, HA I am older than you."

"You're also a hell of a lot taller than me."

"You forgot devilishly handsome and badass."

"I'm not sure of the latter, but definitely not the former."

We shared a laugh. "Name's Saga Cilario," he told me as he brought his fist out.

"Opallios Stone." I replied and we bumped fists.

"Your name is a bit hard to pronounce. I'm going to call you Opals from now on." He said with a smile.

I frowned. "My name isn't **that** hard to say, but I guess you can call me that. Sucks that I can't think of a nickname for you."

He laughed. "It's fine." We stood there for a couple of minutes. Saga broke the silence, "What do you plan on doing later?"

"Right now I'm just delivering the rest of the packages. After that, I'll probably go and get some training done before heading home." I came up with an idea. "If you want, you can help me out with the delivery. I'll split the pay with you."

"I'll do it. It'll give me something to do. But I won't make a habit of doing all of the heavy-lifting for you."

I chuckled. "You won't. You can just store it in your PD."

Saga looked at me, "PD? You're calling my Semblance PD?"

"It's certainly less of a mouthful to say." I replied.

"I guess." He said. "Give me a moment." He headed back inside. After a couple of minutes he was back at the door. "Had to go tell my Mom I was going to be gone."

"You got to do that too? Looks like I'm not the only one with worrying parents." I said as I mumbled the last part. It was then I heard someone behind Saga approaching him. It was his mother. She looked a lot like Saga, but bore more Asian-styled features than him. Her hair was the same color, and it was long as well. Her eyes were a deep purple, almost like the color of plums. She had a slim body and was taller than me as well as most women I've met. _Of course she's taller than me. **Everyone** has to be_. She was wearing a flower-patterned short-sleeved shirt with light Grey shorts. She had a warm smile on her face as she looked at me.

"So you are the one who my son is going with? It's nice to meet you. I am simply known as Mei," she said as she extended her hand.

 _Beautiful indeed... Wait **WHAT?!**_ I mentally shook those thoughts out of my head. "Opallios Stone, Miss" I managed to say as I shook her hand.

I noticed her smile grew. "I know I'm beautiful and that's what my name means, but I appreciate the complement. I know you mean well and have no indecent thoughts." My face paled and she laughed. "My Semblance is mind-reading, and I love it when I see people's reactions. Just be sure to keep my son out of trouble."

I saw Saga roll his eyes, "We'll be fine Mom. I'm just heading out to have something to do." I nodded in agreement.

"Just be careful. You know how I worry." She said as she enveloped Saga in a hug.

"I know. I'll be fine." I heard him say. They broke the hug and Saga and I headed out to the place where the fifth package needed to go.

X-X-X

 **A random suburb**

As we were walking, I noticed Saga was suppressing a laugh. "What's so funny?" I asked.

He finally broke into a fit of laughter. "You have the hots for my Mom!" He continued to laugh.

I felt some heat rise to my cheeks. "Shut up! I don't, I just think your Mom is an admittedly attractive woman. Your father is lucky to have her as a wife." I said as a pushed his shoulder.

His laughter died down, "I know that, I just couldn't help myself to tease you. It's very amusing."

"I've only known you for 30 minutes and you are already being like one of my friends." I sighed and looked up at the sky. "They can be assholes sometimes, but I wouldn't trade them for the world."

Saga noticed the sudden change in my mood. "You must really miss your friends. Are they here in Vale?"

"No. They're just really far away. I haven't been in contact with any of them for awhile. I know they're doing fine though." We kept walking in silence. "So what's the deal with your sword?" I asked Saga as I tried to lighten the mood.

I stepped to the side as I heard the familiar metallic _shing_ as he drew it out. It shimmered in the sunlight as I looked at the silver blade in awe. "It's a family heirloom. Her name is Argent Glaive. It was used by my ancestor during the Great War. He was the first person in my family lineage to become a Huntsman. I am the second."

"Such amazing craftsmanship! It is truly an elegant blade." I said and I saw Saga cheeks slightly glow with embarrassment. "Do you have any other weapons?"

"Just a bunch of guns." He said as he put Argent Glaive back in its sheath as we kept walking.

"Are you going to show me them?" I asked.

"Later. There are too many people here."

"But you just drew your sword in public and there aren't many people out here anyway!" I said accusingly.

He smirked. "I just wanted to show it off." There was more silence. "Where is the next package going to?"

"It should be around here." I said as I felt my Scroll vibrate. I pulled it out and noticed we were at the place. I went ahead and knocked on the door. It opened a bit later to reveal a Grizzly Bear Faunus.

"What can I do for you young men?" He asked in a deep voice with his arms crossed.

"We're here to give you this package." I said as Saga brought it out from his PD and I handed it to the Faunus.

"Great, I've been waiting for a while to get this. Here is your payment." He handed me a small pouch of Lien. I gave it to Saga and he placed it in his PD. "Are you two Huntsmen?"

"No Sir, but we are training to go to Beacon soon. I'm just having a side job at the moment." I replied.

"And I'm just along for the ride since **someone** here isn't doing anything **fun**." Saga chimed in. I glared at him and he had stupid grin on this face.

"Well, let's hope you two do great. Have a nice day." He said.

"You too Sir." I replied and he closed the door. We left the place and I looked at Saga as we walked back the way we came. "We need to head back to _T_ he Wolf of the Moon so we can deliver the rest of the packages."

Saga groaned. "Why didn't you bring all of them with you to begin with?"

"I wasn't able to carry all of them. There are five more packages I need to deliver and it will be a lot easier with your PD since I am not strong enough to carry all of them or fit them in my backpack." I said as I tried to act hurt.

We looked at each other and laughed. Saga said, "Fine. Where do we need to go?"

"It's a few kilometers from where we are now. If you want, we can stop by and get something to eat before going there."

"Oh! I got the perfect place to go get some good food that's really close by. Do you have money 'cause I'm not paying for your food."

"I don't. Sorry."

He sighed. "I'll pay for it just this once. But you owe me."

"Won't the split with the deliveries be enough?" I asked.

"That'll be fine, I guess." he said and I followed him to where he wanted to go.

X-X-X

"A Simple Wok?" I said/asked as I was reminded on what it was secretly based on; to which I smiled.

"It's the best noodle house this side of Vale! I go here **all the time**. You simply **have** to try it!" Saga gleefully said.

"For the record, Asian-inspired/themed dishes are one of my absolute favorite kinds of food. I have no doubt in my mind that the food here will be nothing short of amazing." I saw Saga draw up a huge grin on his face as we sat down. "What do you recommend?"

He replied almost immediately, "Get the Tonkotsu **[1]**. It's one of my personal favorites."

We went ahead and placed our orders. A couple of minutes later at the chef brought it to us. The aroma the food was emitting smelled so alluring that I coughed from almost choking on my saliva.

"Are you okay man? It isn't **that** spicy." Saga asked as he slurped up of some of his noodles.

After about 15 seconds of coughing, I replied, "I'm fine. My mouth was watering so much that I started to choke on my saliva." Saga proceeded to go in his own coughing fit. "I know, a pleasant thought to have before eating." He then began to laugh.

" *I'm your friend who's an asshole laugh **[2]** * No! That's **hilarious**! *hysterically laughs* Oh My **God** that's the funniest thing you've done yet!" He was laughing so hard that he had to put his food aside so he didn't knock it over. He was crying from laughing so hard and clutching his sides.

"You're an asshole sometimes, but I guess it was pretty funny" I chuckled. I waited for him to calm down so we could continue eating. After a bit we simultaneously slurped up the broth remaining in our own bowls and Saga paid for the meal.

As we made our way down to the store, I burped really loud, much to Saga's amusement, and some of the people around me looked at me in slight disgust.

"Did you get enough to eat?" Saga asked with his stupid smile on his face.

"Yeah I did. Seriously, that food was **awesome**! I promise to pay for the next one. If you think that burp was loud, you don't want to see me when I drink coffee."

We laughed and we actually arrived back at The Wolf of the Moon. We walked inside and got the rest of the packages. Jason came in from the back.

"Hey Opallios! Good to see that you are back to deliver the rest of the packages. Who's your friend?"

"This is Saga Cilario. His Semblance is a pocket dimension and he will be helping me deliver the rest of the packages for half of the total payment." Saga and Jason shook hands.

"Any friend of Opallios is a friend of mine!" Jason said with a smile.

I went ahead and scanned the addresses on my Scroll and Saga placed the packages in his PD. We then waved goodbye to Jason and made our way to deliver the rest.

 **Cutting to have the only the sixth and seventh ones left**

Saga had his hands behind his head and I had my hands in my pockets. "We now only have the sixth and seventh ones to deliver. It looks like the sixth one is in a small village out to the west. We'll have to travel through Grimm territory for a good three kilometers." I told him.

"Let's hope we can kick some Grimm ass on the way. I've been itching for a fight."

"Personally I would like to avoid a fight, but it would be nice to get some extra training in." I said as we began walking through the forest. It was then we heard a few pig squeals.

"Boarbatusks are nearby. I could only hear five." Saga said quietly as he drew out Argent Glaive and a Black pistol that had some thin gold lines on it. I went ahead and activated my armor and drew Black Lightning along with my left-handed shield. Saga analyzed me for a moment. "Cool armor. Who made it?"

"Sathrall. Helps my resistance against Dust since I am not very resistant to it as most people are. I'll explain why later." I told him as we got into a back-to-back battle stance as we heard the Grimm getting closer. It was then that the Boarbatusks appeared, but instead of five appearing there was only seven. I told Saga, "This shouldn't be too much of a problem. Ready?"

"Let's kick some ass!" Saga said and I could tell he had a smile on his face as he began to shoot one of the Grimm as I rushed at another one.

We were apparently able to startle them as we easily killed the Grimm we attacked; however, the Grimm began to roll up and charge us. I went ahead and dodged one of them while Saga shot another one. The bullet drove the one that attacked me back, but the Grimm was far from finished. While it was dazed I did a Summon Bolt Stream and I brought my mace down on the ground as the Grimm began to charge at us. The last of the six-bolt stream hit the Grimm, killing it. Saga eyes widened as he was impressed with my skills. He heard another two coming at him to which he rolled out of the way of one of them, but a third one hit him where he landed and he was flung into a nearby tree with a dazed expression on his face. _Dammit Saga_! I rushed over to him. I was able to block another attack with my shield from the second one that attacked him and stabbed it in the head which only seemed to aggravate the Grimm. I decided to improvise and charged a bit of my lightning into my shield and proceeded to bash a fourth oncoming Grimm which it was flung back with electricity going through it. I noticed that my aura was in the lower green while Saga's was in the high yellow, but he finally came to.

"Damn it! I hate Boarbatusks!" He said as he got up.

Not turning to face him, "Good to see you're alright. There are only about four left. Think you can fight for a bit longer?"

"You bet your ass I can!" He went ahead and put away his pistol and Argent Glaive and brought out what looked like a grenade launcher from Halo to which I dove out of the way as he fired at three of the four remaining Grimm. There was a small explosion and all three of them were dead in that one attack. As the last one stood there with fury in its eyes, Saga and I seemed to have an idea. We nodded and he got a couple of meters behind me. The last of the Boarbatusks squealed in fury as it revved up for a long time before charging. I crouched low to the ground and the Grimm ramped off my shield, but it seemed to have stumbled when it hit the middle of my shield causing its unprotected underside to be exposed. It was at that moment that Saga brought out what looked like a shotgun from _Halo _ and shot the Grimm's underside in the same motion.

With the battle over, we looked around at what we did. Saga looked at me and brought out his fist. "Told you we would kick ass!"

"And kicked ass we did!" I said as we bumped fists.

"That was a cool idea with the shield ramp and me shooting it. We would make a great team at Beacon."

I nodded. " **Now** will you tell me about your guns since I have seen some of them in action?"

"Alright calm down," he said. "We should probably get out of here so more Grimm don't show up. Which way do we go to get the package sent?"

"My armor has a mini-map. Follow me." I said and we headed to where we needed to go.

 **5 P.M.**

We finally made it to the village and we were **fucking exhausted**. Our muscles were in so much pain from all the walking that we could barely move. We had to lean against a tree to keep us supported.

I looked at Saga as we were both on the verge of collapsing. " **Gooooood Daaammmmnnn itttt!** How far did we walk?"

" **12** **fucking miles**." he answered.

" **FUUUUUUUCK!** " I slid down the tree in annoyance and sat on the ground. "We need to get some food."

"And to clean up. Not just us, but our clothes as well. They probably smell like shit." Saga said as he began to remove his coat and his shirt. "You should probably remove your hoodie and shirt as well. I don't understand how you can wear that hoodie in this heat."

I was reluctant to take off my hoodie, but I decided to do so anyway. "Remember when I said I would tell you the reason why I wear the armor?"

"Yeah. And?"

"I'm still going to tell you later." I answered with a halfhearted smile.

"You're an asshole."

"I know." I said as I also decided to remove my shirt.

Saga noticed the shirt I wore. "I didn't know you were into the Red Skull Shredders."

"Honestly I don't know if I am since I haven't listened to any of their music. They reminded me of a metal bands back home."

"You're going to have to tell me what your hometown is like." My smile faltered. Saga saw my sudden change in mood. 'I must've said something wrong.' he thought. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean t-"

"It's fine." I was silent a bit more before I looked up at him with a smile. "I'll tell you someday. When I am ready to." Saga returned the smile.

"You know, I'm not someone who usually checks out other guys, but you are putting on a bit of muscle here and there." I looked at him.

"You **really** got to stop teasing me like that. I'm not really looking to be buff. Just reasonably fit. So **please** don't be one of those people who will check me out. I would rather **not** be checked out."

"Oh come on! I only like teasing you because you are my friend. I do think I'm more built up than you are, but if you keep doing what you are doing you'll have girls latching on to you like bees to honey."

I laughed. "That has got to be one of the **corniest** things I have ever heard." What I said next had Saga wide-eyed, "Plus, I can't get with a girl anyway. No girl would want to be with someone like me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's something I've grown to have myself feel like. I mean look at me! I'm incredibly introverted, I hardly display my emotions, and I don't take care of my body well enough to be presentable. If a girl was even **remotely** interested in me, she would have to be desperate, have no other options, or have lost a bet. Even **if** she said she was interested in me, there is **nothing** she could say to convince me as to why. You know the phrase scraping the bottom of the barrel? Well I'm the dirt on the ground on the barrel's underside. Love to me is nothing more than an illusion, a hopeless fantasy."

Saga was silent. He then said with his arms crossed, "You shouldn't be making yourself feel that way. I'm sure there will be someone out there for you."

I placed my head against the tree while turning my gaze outward and away from him and crossed an arm over my knee while placing the other arm at my side. "Well when you've been feeling like your heart has been broken several times because you were either too scared to say something or you knew it would never work out, it gets harder to put the pieces back together to make it the same way. I gave up on love a long time ago."

Saga was starting to get angry. He looked down at me. "You're only **19**! You have your whole life ahead of you! You have no legitimate reason to be acting this way! You need to have more confidence in yourself! I'll be damned if I see you put yourself down to be so low." I stayed silent for about five minutes before I started to chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"You remind me so much of them." I got up turned to face him. "My friends were always there for me. They would help me get through my rough days and when I felt like giving up." I gave Saga a brotherly hug which threw him off guard. He returned it. When I broke the hug I said, "It is the first day I have known you, but I feel like we've been friends for a long time. I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. It is difficult to find comfort when your life takes an unexpected turn. I would get like this constantly, but I knew I can rely on my friends to get me through it all. Maybe there is someone out there for me. And I think there is someone out there for you as well."

Saga smiled at me. "It's good to see you are out of that mood. I'll be there for you. Besides, someone has to keep an eye on you so you don't get yourself killed."

"You're still an asshole."

"Whatever." We began to laugh.

"Looks like everything seems alright with you two."

"Wah!/Gah!" Saga/I shouted at the unknown presence.

The person, or people laughed. It looked like the entire village was surrounding us. There only seemed to be about 30 people or so. The people ranged from the elderly to mothers holding infants in their arms. Some looked to be grouped together as a family. They all seemed to be really nice people.

Saga asked, "How long have all of you been standing there?" A middle-aged man stepped forward.

"I personally wasn't standing here long. I was nearby when I heard you two shouting and I decided to give you both some privacy. I came back here later with the rest of the village and you two were laughing. My name is Markus and I am in charge of this village. What brings you two here?"

I remembered that this was the name of the person who the package was supposed to be given to. "I am Opallios Stone and my friend here is Saga Cilario. We are here from Vale to deliver this package to you." Saga then brought out the package from his PD and gave it to Markus.

"Thank you so much for this. I've been wanting to add this to my collection. I'll be sure to pay you. You said you two were from Vale?"

"That is correct" Saga answered.

A woman who I presumed to be Markus's wife came up from behind him. "Goodness you boys must be exhausted! To travel to our village from Vale on foot in your clothing with this heat by yourselves is not an easy task. Follow me and I will wash your clothes and get you both something to eat."

"That would be great! Thank you." We said as we went ahead and followed the woman.

I went ahead and let Saga take his shower first while I walked around the small house. It wasn't as big as the one back home, but it was larger than the hotels back in Vale. I asked Markus's wife, whose name I found out was Tabitha, to be careful with washing my hoodie since it was my armor as well and I didn't want to get anything damaged. She assured me that it wouldn't get damaged and promised to be careful with it. Saga poked his head out of the bathroom and saw his clean clothes on a small dresser that was outside the bathroom door since they were dried with a fire dust-powered heater. He grabbed his clothes with his free hand and closed the door to change. My shirt and hoodie were almost done when Saga came back out fully dressed although his hair was still slightly wet and had water dripping. I went ahead and stepped into the bathroom and then took off my remaining clothes and dropped them outside of the bathroom door. I made sure to keep my journal in the bathroom closet so it wouldn't get wet and took my shower. I felt the warm water run along my body as I proceeded to wash my hair as well since it has been a few days since I showered and washed my hair. I grabbed a towel and dried myself off as best I could. I poke my head out of the door and saw my clothes were done as well. _That stuff works quick. I only took a three minute shower._ I went ahead and grabbed my clothes and after closing the door I got dressed. Fully dressed and cleaned, I looked at myself in the mirror and considered shaving my growing mustache and goatee. I decided against it as I decided shave it before I go to Beacon. I grabbed my journal and placed it in my pocket and headed out of the bathroom. I could smell food in the kitchen and I followed the scent and I saw that there was slices from a fresh loaf of bread with a salad along with what looked to me to be pork tenderloin. I saw Saga was already eating so I sat down and began to eat as well. After the meal Markus paid us for the delivery and we thanked them both for their food and hospitality. Tabitha even gave us some snacks for the trip back to Vale which we gladly accepted. As we were making the trek back to Vale, I asked Saga to show me the rest of his guns.

"Christ if you want to see them so badly you should've just asked" he said with a smug grin.

"You know how many times I've asked you! Plus I think you would appreciate being able to show off your weapons." I said as I pulled an apple from my pocket and began to eat it.

"Touche." He first pulled out his grenade launcher he used earlier. "This is my M23 Multiple Grenade Launcher. I call her Kraken." As I looked more closely at it, it really did remind me of _Halo_. I nodded when I was done observing. He placed it back in his PD and brought out a sniper rifle. "This is my Anti-material sniper rifle. A Barrett XM500 I dubbed Fomalhaut." I nodded again when I was done observing while still eating the apple. What he had out next was the shotgun I saw him use earlier as well. "This is my M77 Extreme Close Quarters Combat System One-handed shotgun. I call her Altair." Once again this gun reminded me of _Halo _ and I was okay with this as I thought some of the weapons in that game could be used in this universe. I nodded and he then brought out an SMG. "This little beauty is my One-handed M2 Battle Rifle. Her name is Vega." I noticed it reminded me of something, but I couldn't think of it at the time. I asked him if I could hold it for a closer look. He gave it to me and I looked at it in m hands. Turning it this way and that before I realized where I've seen this gun before back on Earth.

 _It's from the RoboCop movies. I knew I've seen this somewhere before._ I thought as I smiled. I handed Saga back Vega and he then pulled out the pistols he also used in the fight earlier.

"And last but not least, these two are my Custom-made TSR-666 Handguns. I call them Onyx Wings. I like these two the most." He placed his weapons back in his PD.

I threw away the core of my apple since I finished it. "What kind of ammunition do your guns fire?" I asked.

"All of them are fitted to fire Dust rounds and Compressed aura. I have special casings for different Dust types depending on what I feel like using, although I mostly use fire Dust rounds."

"Do you normally buy your dust rounds?"

"Yeah. They are a bit pricey, but worth it." he answered as he pulled out a cigarette and began to smoke.

I slightly stepped away from him as he began to smoke. "Do you smoke often?"

"Not too often. Grimm will most likely kill me first rather than smoke." he said as he blew out a smoke ring. "If you don't like it when I smoke I'll do my best to not smoke around you."

"I would appreciate that, thanks." I said as I went back to my previous spot at his side and we walked in silence. Saga pulled out a bag of chips from his PD and began to munch on them. I looked at him. "How long have you had those?"

"Since I left to hang out with you. Want some?" he offered his bag to me.

"Sure." I grabbed a few in my hand and we began to munch on them. "I want to tell you the reason why I wear my hoodie which doubles as my armor." Saga stopped eating and listened. "I was born prematurely, in fact I was born in only 25 weeks **[3]**. I was only 13 inches and weighed 26 ounces **[4]**. I should have been dead, but I was given treatment in the hospital where I stayed for 99 days **[5]**. I didn't get to go home until I was almost two years old. Because of my premature birth, I have a lesser amount of resistance to Dust than normal. I wanted to become a Huntsman so I can protect the people I care about and to give hope to others where there may not be any, but I knew early on I would be facing opponents who use Dust in their weaponry. When I decided to go train to become a Huntsman and attend Beacon, I had Sathrall make me a special set of armor that would help against that resistance. Even though I can still fight without it and I have a large supply of aura, I'm more vulnerable as a result. I made the armor based on a hoodie since they are my favorite article of clothing. Since I always wear one, I knew I would always be protected. It is more dangerous for me without it since one well-placed strike or bullet could be the end of me earlier than most people. This is why that no matter how hard I train or master a skill, I can never be as good as someone such as you."

Saga was silent for awhile as he absorbed the information. "Damn. That sucks."

"I know, but it is something I will be alright with."

"I find it amazing that you are still alive. To be born so prematurely and to have you turn out like this. Your parents must be so proud of you."

"My mother always referred to me as her miracle child."

"And you have the right to be called that considering what you went through." We walked for a bit more before stopping to rest for a bit. After our quick rest we were finally able to make it back to Vale and we somehow didn't encounter any Grimm on our way back despite that it was getting dark outside. We stopped by a store and I checked my Scroll and saw that is was about 7:45 P.M. "Come on Saga. We have one more delivery to make then we can both go home."

"Where does this one need to go?" I looked back at my Scroll for the address. I was about to look it up when I saw the name and I had a worried look on my face.

"Shit." I mumbled under my breath.

What's wrong? Where is this one going?" I showed him the address. "That's Junior's Club. I don't know what kind of package he would want, but I don't expect it to be good. If you are worried about getting in just give me your mace so I can store it in my PD. If things get rough I'll be sure to give it to you. Other than that we should be fine."

"If you say so." I said not entirely convinced as I gave him Black Lightning and saw her disappear.

"Hey if push comes to shove, just try to dance and have fun since neither one of us are old enough to drink at the bar."

"That's just the thing. I haven't been to any kind of club. I also hate dancing."

"Well I'm sorry you're going to have to suck it up." He then added teasingly. "You may be able to get a girl if you know what I mean."

My face turned slightly red. "Shut up. Let's just get this over with." Saga chuckled at my embarrassment. We headed out to Junior's Club.

 **Junior's Club**

Since it was early we didn't have to wait that long in the line. Once the bouncer cleared us through we stepped inside. I looked around and I saw a bunch of people were here despite it only being 8 P.M. I saw the surprisingly large dance floor with people dancing (what else is a dance floor used for). I saw on a higher platform the DJ in what looked to be a bear suit and around the left side was a staircase which I assumed lead over to the bar. I also noticed that there were a bunch of men dressed in black suits with red ties, red shades, and black hats in multiple areas of the club. I assumed they were Junior's henchmen keeping an eye on the club so there isn't any trouble. I really didn't like the music in here. Dance music is one of my personally least favorite kinds of music and I **really** didn't want to be here. I looked over at Saga and he had a suave-looking smile on his face. I immediately knew what he was going to do so I grabbed his shoulder before he took off. "Not so fast! First we find Junior and give him his package, you can dance and hit on girls after that." I said over the really loud music.

"Fine, whatever." he grumbled. "Where should we look?"

"I was thinking the bar would be a good start." he nodded as he followed me to the bar.

When we got there it was a little quieter but not by a whole lot. I immediately recognized Junior and he was cleaning out a glass I also noticed the Malachite Twins were nearby. I didn't make eye-contact, but I kept their presence in mind as I walked over to Junior. Saga was 'casually' walking over to the twins to try to make a move, and I didn't notice it until I was almost at one of the bar stools. _Dammit Saga! Don't start something!_ I sat in one of the bar stools. Junior looked at me and had a slight frown.

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?"

"I'm just here to deliver a package you ordered. If my friend would come over here I would like to give it to you."

"So it's here then? Good."

I turned to Saga and saw that his head was hung low and the Twins weren't looking at him. He made his way over and sat down next to me. "Got rejected Lady Killer?" I teased.

"Not funny."

"Can you please get the package out so we can leave and go home? I don't want to be here longer than I need to be."

"Geez fine." He pulled out the last package and handed it to Junior who placed it under the bar.

"I'll pay you, but it won't be much."

"Anything would be appreciated." I said as I took the money and gave it to Saga to place it in his PD.

Junior looked at us skeptically. "Are you two working with the police or are Huntsmen?"

I immediately replied. "No Sir. I'm working at a job to make some money so I can later go to Beacon. My friend here helps me with the heavy-lifting." _Better to give the truth than to cause trouble._ I saw Junior nod.

"As long as you two don't cause any trouble here you are welcomed to be here." he said. I was surprised at how almost laid-back he was about this.

 _It's gonna suck whenever she gets in here._ I thought with a grimace.

Saga however, took this opportunity to say, "Awesome! More dancing for me!" He was about to bolt out of the bar when he looked back at me. "You coming?"

"I told you already I don't dance, but I will stay here longer if you want. I really don't care." He shrugged his shoulders and then he was out of sight. I got up from the bar and found a booth in a dark corner where I was away from the bar and where the music was also quieter. I heard the music change to a more steady song as I sat here thinking about how my day went so far.

"Seems to me you are not enjoying yourself." a feminine voice spoke to me.

My face was covered by the shade of the wall, but it paled. _That voice! It can't be! Not her! **Anyone but her! Please** don't tell me I've encountered her of **all** places._ I thought with a panic. I turned around to face the person who spoke to me and my fears were realized.

Sitting on a small red table nearby was a woman with black hair and glowing amber eyes, while her fingernails are painted dark red. She wears a dark-red, off-the-shoulders, v-neck mini-dress with yellow designs. I saw a blue feather-like accessory on her right hip, at the top of an open portion of her dress which dress ends in an upside-down triangular tail in the back, ending just above the knees. Although I couldn't see it, I knew the dress had a baseball diamond-shaped keyhole on the upper back at the same height as her chest. The sleeves end in a triangle shape, which are wrapped or tied around her middle finger, with the gold designs of the sleeve taking over at the wrists. While her legs crossed I saw her black shorts underneath her dress. Her accessories were a black choker on her neck, a pair of gold loop earrings which also glowed like her eyes that had a black gem dangling from each. She got up and made her way toward me and her dark, glass, high-heeled shoes made a _clink_ sound as she walked. She also had a jeweled anklet on her right leg. She was none other than what I assumed to be the main antagonist of the show, RWBY (despite the fact she may not be the one who is truly in charge as I left Earth before more was revealed about her); Cinder Fall. I knew she has either started doing her plan or was going to start it, and I knew that she is not to be trifled with and no good was going to come out of this meeting. I would've called her beautiful if I didn't feel like I was going to die in a couple of minutes. I would have to do my best to keep a leveled head and **not** get burned alive. _Oh who am I kidding! I'm so fucked._ I thought. "I'm not really the type of person who does this sort of thing. Too much noise, too many people, and I don't dance." She went ahead and sat across from me and stared at me. I noticed she was also tall, about 5'11 and from this close she really was beautiful and almost seemed to be around my age if not a couple of years older. _What am I thinking?! This is **Cinder Fall**! I'm surprised I haven't died already!_ I mentally panicked. She said something that broke me from my thoughts.

"What is someone such as yourself doing in a place like this? You seem to be a little young to be here."

"I was here working for my boss to deliver some packages. One of them happened to be given to Junior."

"What about your friend?" she asked her eyes still studying me.

"He would help me carry them since I wasn't strong enough."

"You seem like you can carry your own weight for someone as young and **handsome** as you are." she said teasingly.

My face reddened. "I'm only 19 and I'm training to go to Beacon in a couple of years; and I'm not handsome."

She laughed, but I couldn't tell if her laugh was more of a manipulating one or one that showed malice. "You are certainly an interesting individual. Why do you want to become a Huntsman?"

"I want to protect those I care about and to give hope to those who have none. If I can also become stronger as a result I will take it." I wanted to ask her what she plans to do, but that would be too dangerous.

Cinder had a small smile. "Your cause is understandable, but what about those who will take away what hope others have? What do you do about them?"

"I will give them a second chance at redemption." Cinder raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. "I believe everyone, no matter how evil they are or what they have done, is a good person from the day they are born. Those who become evil do so when an event occurs that changes how they view their beliefs. I want to give those who have done wrong a chance to make things right. If they refuse, then I will have no choice but to do everything in my power to stop them. My reasoning may seem childish, but I stand by them."

Cinder was silent and I was getting worried. She then did something I did not expect. She pulled out her Scroll and gestured me to do the same. Not wanting to make her angry, I pulled it out and handed it to her. She seemed to be punching in some numbers and then she handed me back my Scroll.

"Opallios Stone, huh? An interesting name." She got up and began to leave and I watched her go up the stairs. "You'll find my number in there. You decide what you want to do with it." She winked and my mouth gaped open as she disappeared from my sight. I closed my mouth and stared at the Scroll in my hand.

 _What. the hell. just happened? I got her **number?!** I don't understand! What does this mean?! Why?_ I put my head on the table. "I'm so screwed." I mumbled. My mind was all over the place so much that I didn't see Saga sit next to me.

"Dude! Did you just finish talking with that **really hot** chick? What happened? Did she reject you?"

I was startled by Saga's out of nowhere appearance. "No. We talked. She asked me some questions, and apparently she gave me her number before leaving."

"No fucking way! That's awesome!"

"I don't know what to do though! This has never happened to me before!" I was in despair.

"You should call her as soon as you can. Can't let someone like her get away. Someone may snatch her" he said with a toothy grin.

"And would that someone be you? Last I checked you have a track record of being rejected."

"Don't rub it in."

I chuckled. I got serious, "Saga if you had the power to change a person's life for the sake of many people would you do it even if it might make everything worse?"

Saga thought about it for a minute. "I honestly do not know. I think for some it might be a risk worth taking, but I can't really say for sure." I slumped my shoulders. "Come on. Let's go back to see Jason and go home. It has been a long day for the both of us." I nodded and we left the club.

 _I have an opportunity to change Cinder's ways. I have no idea if she has started her plan or not. Do I take that risk to have her see things differently? Is it really possible? Is it even right for me to do so? Doing this would drastically alter the events of canon._ I weighed this on my mind as we made it back to  The Wolf of the Moon. It looked dark inside since there was only one light on. We walked inside and Jason saw us.

"Well it's about time you two got back! I assume everything went well?"

"Yeah. Here's the payment." I said as Saga brought out all of the money we got from the deliveries. Jason counted them and it turned out it was a total of 300 Lien. I was surprised at the high amount. Jason gave me 45 percent of the total to which I split with Saga as thanks for helping me out. We then said our goodbyes and left the store. I decided to walk Saga home. I enjoyed his company and he was a valuable friend to me. We made it to his house.

"Well Opals, this is where I say see ya. It was fun hanging out with you. If you ever want to do something like this again, feel free to let me know." he said as he brought out his fist.

"I'll be sure to do that." I replied as we bumped fists.

"Good luck on your training."

"Same to you."

I went ahead and left to go head back to see Master.

 **Back at Master's cottage**

I walked inside to find him sitting in a leather chair reading a book.

"Looks like you had one hell of a day."

"Tell me about it." I yawned. "I'm going to go to bed. I got more stuff to do tomorrow. I shouldn't be out this late that often."

"See you tomorrow then." he said not looking up from his book.

I headed upstairs and did my nightly routine before writing in my journal and letting sleep take over.

* * *

 **Special shout-out to sgolek1 for Saga Cilario. Saga's mom was created by me, but I'll give most (99.99%) of the credit to sgolek1 for mentioning Saga having parents in his character BG. You can always submit more than one. I hope you don't mind how I have him in the story.**

* * *

 **[Author's Comments]**

 **[1]** **noodles in a pork broth**

 **[2]** **You have a friend who has that laugh.**

 **[3]** **About five months, so I was born four months early.**

 **[4]** **One pound and 10 ounces**

 **[5]** **A little over three months**

 **Another Chapter is done and I think it's my longest one to date (8,638! Damn). Now, I will be having a bit of trouble with uploading the next one due to the fact that I might get a job as well as the summer family vacation coming up in the second week of August. Luckily the vehicle we are taking has WiFi, so I will be taking my laptop with me so I can work on the next Chapter as well as my other story ideas. I know I should be relaxing while on vacation, but I want to be able to get some stuff done.**

 **So we have a surprise appearance of Cinder Fall. The funny thing is I was considering making her a love interest (I admit she is really attractive) by making her change her ways since it is unclear when she actually became evil and then when I write this story's sequel I would have someone take her place in canon that I would have no knowledge about who said individual would be, but make the character have similar things that Cinder does in canon. I would do this since if Cinder was like how she is in canon, especially when she goes to infiltrate Beacon with Mercury and Emerald (they would be replaced/altered as well), I would have knowledge of who she is, but since I would technically have no proof of her actions, it would make it difficult for me to arrest her and maybe have her change her tactics. The problem is that I have no romantic experience and I would have to consult a Beta Reader to write all of the possible romantic scenes (if my conversation with her was anything to go by, I have no experience in this kind of stuff).**

 **Which begs the question of do I add romance to the story and make Cinder a love interest? Do I add it and not make her the love interest and make it someone else (Either another RWBY character who is close to my age/slightly older or an OC of your creation)? Do I even add romance at all? I will most likely have a poll uploaded on my profile when I upload this Chapter so you guys can decide. Know that if the vote is that romance is added to the story regardless if Cinder is the love interest, I would HAVE to get a Beta Reader since I have never actually written romance at all. The Beta Reader would write all of the romance/fluff bits while I do everything else to the best of my ability. I would also NOT be doing ANY lemons/smut since I haven't done that either and I would like to keep this story at a T rating. Unless there are enough people who would like to make this M rated, but I still wouldn't add smut/lemons unless there are enough people who ask for it. This means I would have maybe multiple polls or just a bunch of choices that you will decide where the story would go.**

 **This has been TTOA, and I will see you in Chapter 7.**

 **Peace!**

 **P.s. Check out my facebook page for updates on all In-Progress and Upcoming Stories! Link on Profile.**


	7. Time Skip to November

**Chapter 7: Time skip to November**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum. All other mentioned franchises are owned by their respective owners. I own nothing but myself.**

* * *

 **Hello everyone! TTOA here with Chapter 7! My Poll is still up and it seems that you guys want this story to have romance and Cinder the love interest (at the time of me writing this 5 people have voted and they were all for that) if you haven't done so already place your vote!**

 **I also have uploaded my second RWBY story titled "The White Demon" so you can read that one as well.**

 **I really do not have much else to say other than that I will be going on vacation soon. I'll also be continuing to write despite me being on vacation.**

 **Also, so much awesome stuff that was said for RWBY at RTX! You can probably find it on YT or on RT's site (I think the actual video is called RTX2015 Austin Hill Grand, but I'm sure someone has just the panel)**

 **Let's get begin the new Chapter!**

* * *

 **(Update 8/12/2015 10:14 PM I just looked up what a Mary Sue was on TVTropes since I noticed some Beta Readers absolutely hated this kind of character. Basically it is something I am doing my best to avoid with this Self-Insert story (although I think just making it a SI automatically makes it like a Mary Sue or in my case Marty Stu) and now I'm all in a panic. I seriously hope I'm not turning out like this. I feel like that will be a major turn off for you readers. If I am turning out to be like that I need to know ASAP)**

* * *

"Speech"

 _Thought_

*…* Actions within dialogue

 **Emphasis**

 _[Flashback]_ begins/ends

 _ **Narration** /Log_

 **[#] Author's Comments which will be shown at the official end of the Chapter and before the ending A/N.**

* * *

 _Opallios's Log_

 _As far as what happened today, you could say it was interesting. I was reminded of my family that I had to leave behind when I came to this world, and not a day goes by that I miss them greatly. Master was kind enough to give me the rest of the week off, so I decided to head back into Vale to get some work done. I met up with my boss at The Wolf of the Moon and I was delivering some packages. I got to the first place and met Saga Cilario. He is a bit of a show-off, but he is nice. He reminds me of my friends back home, and we have formed a great friendship. We went to Junior's Club to give him a package, and it was there I met someone I thought I would need to meet. I met Cinder Fall, the supposed main villain of the show. She asked me some questions and she gave me her Scroll number. I don't know if I should be honored or terrified. Since I have no idea if she is evil, it is possible for me to change her. I think I'm going to take a break from writing in this since I am starting to run out of pages..._

 **Time Skip to November**

 _Opallios's Log_

 _Holy crap it has been a long time since my last journal entry. I looked at what I wrote last, and I knew I wanted to take a break, but this is crazy. I guess I need to bring myself up to speed with what I have been doing for the last couple of months:_

 _After my last journal entry I had a couple of months ago, I went back into Vale to get some more work done at my job. I was able to finally open myself up a checking account so I am not carrying my Lien everywhere. I went ahead and used some of my Lien to buy myself a music player as well as buy some albums from some music groups of this world._ **[1]** _They include: Red Skull Shredders, Final Nightmare, Children of Thor, Broken Stone, Awaken Remains, Boys Among Gods, and Fates of the Thoughtless (one of my personal favorites). Some of my favorite songs include: Nothing but Brutality, Bitter Vengeance, Never-ending Flaws, Your Demon, and Darkness with Dreams (one of my favorites). They remind me of the bands I used to listen to back home. I also picked up on a few books to read as well. They are mostly about the world of Remnant and its history, but I also picked up a few science-fiction and fantasy books._

 _I've been hanging out with Saga lot over the past couple of months. We have been training each other for our time at Beacon. Let's just say I am thankful for my aura and my armor._

 _I also have decided to talk with Cinder a bit more. We mostly just talk about what it means to be a Huntsman, if it's possible to stop the Grimm, things like that. It's funny because I used to always think about the meaning of life or what my purpose is; I was usually the kind of person to ask myself these kinds of questions even though people my age would rather think about the next party or how to get laid. It seems Cinder and I share some similar beliefs, but she seems to take some of my viewpoints into account. I have no idea what goes on inside her head, but I hope she isn't planning to kill me. I'm also not really in a relationship with her, we seem to act more like colleagues who somewhat share a common interest_ _I'm not going to deny that Cinder is a very attractive young woman, but I doubt that she would be interested in me anyway._ **[2]**

 _When by birthday came around in October, I decided to pay a visit to Sathrall and have him help me make myself a second weapon, a light armor set, and made some modifications to my normal armor. Building the weapon_ _was honestly one of my favorite things I have done and the best part was that I built her myself with Sathrall giving me tips along the way. I began training with my new weapon along side building up my strength, endurance, and stamina. When November came around, Master told me I am an expert tracker as well as a great alchemist (I still keep the books for reference though). I hope that those skills will have use for them whenever canon begins. My body has built up nicely rather surprisingly well and I may be tolerate of being called handsome, as weird as it is to hear myself say that. I look like I can handle myself nicely, but I know I can never truly be like the people who are naturally born in this world. But hopefully my special aura techniques will make up for it._

 _Speaking of which, now that it_ _ **is**_ _November, that training begins tomorrow. I'm so excited for this since there are so many things I'm going to be doing I can't wait..._

 _(Note to self. Buy another journal)_

* * *

If you were out in the woods at around 5 A.M. You could hear the sounds of something hitting something else. What that would be is the sound of bolts of a crossbow hitting an archery target. I was using the crossbow that I made for my 20th birthday that occurred in October. As I focused my shot, I remembered what happened that day as well as what else I did.

* * *

 _[Flashback to October 1st]_

 _I woke up today and I realized that it was a very special time. I had hung my head low as I went downstairs. Master noticed my mood and went over to me._

" _What's wrong, Opallios?"_

" _It's October." I said dejectedly._

" _What's the significance of it being October?"_

" _It is the busiest month for my family. It would be my dad's birthday, my little sister's birthday, my own birthday, **and** my parent's anniversary. All happening relatively close to each other. This will be the first of many times I will not be able to celebrate those days with my family."_

" _I see. What happens first?"_

" _The first week is my dad's birthday. The next week is my little sister's birthday. The next week is my birthday and the next two days is my parent's anniversary."_

" _Well then. I think it will be best to keep your family in your thoughts. I think you should do something for yourself on your birthday. You'll be 20, right?" I nodded. "You should do something then, but for now, I need you to keep training. I want you to read some more of the books I gave you."_

" _Alright." I walked over to the leather chair and picked up another Grimm book to learn more about it."_

 _[Flashback end]_

* * *

I walked over to the target and pulled the bolts out of the target ring and placed them back in my quiver. I sat down on a tree stump and looked at my crossbow in the sunlight. _Wow, I really did a good job with making her._ I remembered when my birthday came around and I got what I thought I wanted for my birthday.

* * *

 _[Flashback to October 21st]_

I was walking around Vale as I was thinking about what I wanted to get for my 20th birthday today. I had a book in my hand and my music playing as I thought about what I wanted to do. _I think I need a second weapon. Maybe one that has some range_. I headed over to Sathrall to see what I could do. I walked into the store and Sathrall saw me.

"Hey Opallios! How's everything going today? I see you're still alive, so that means the armor is doing its job!"

"I'm doing fine, Sathrall. It's actually my 20th birthday today."

"Well congratulations! Are you looking for something special?"

"I am in fact. I was thinking of having a second weapon. One that I could use to give myself some range. What do you think?" Sathrall thought about it before answering.

"I got the perfect idea! How about a recurve crossbow? I can help you make it and I'll make a special set of light armor as well!"

"That sounds like a great idea!" I said with a smile on my face. Sathrall nodded and we got to work.

After a few hours, I had made my weapon. She has been cleverly constructed of extraordinary ash wood. The string is made from first-class deer sinew, which apparently is a very rare material around this part of the world. The limbs have been decorated with ornate gold details and end in rounded curves ornamented with intricate carvings that glow. The stock is wrapped in light leather and decorated with carved woodwork. The long quiver is made from light leather that I would wear around my belt. The outer side has been decorated with glowing threads, which isn't just for decoration, but so I can channel my aura in it for a longer, more powerful shot. According to Sathrall, if I can become an expert archer, the weapon is capable of firing arrows up to 192 meters while still retaining lethal power. If I charge it with my aura, I have no clue how long she can fire. Taking a page from Saga, I can also use compressed aura as well as multiple kinds of Dust-related bolts.

I marveled at her. She was the first weapon I have ever made. Sathrall nodded in approval. "What do you plan on calling her?"

"I'll call her, The Messenger." Sathrall nodded.

"I like the name. Now then, while you were working, I made you a special set of armor. Let me go get it." I was curious as to what exactly he made. He came back with a simple shirt and pants. It looked like ordinary cloths to me; however, they seemed thinner than a normal.

"What exactly is this?" I asked as I held them in my hands.

"This is your new armor. It is made out of a special material that is lightweight, but tougher than steel. You can wear this underneath your normal clothes as well as your normal armor for added protection. Plus, it keeps your body nice and cool. It is one of my best works."

I sat there amazed. _It's kind of like mithril from Lord of the Rings._ "Thanks a bunch!" I paused, "Speaking of my armor, I was thinking of adding a few modifications to my normal armor."

"What did you have in mind?"

"A stealth feature plus a thermal and night-vision scanner." I said.

"That should be easy enough. It'll take me a few hours for me to add them. You don't mind waiting?"

"I don't mind." Sathrall nodded as I gave him my hoodie so her could work. He came back in a few hours with all of the modification made.

"If you ever need anything else, please let me know. And Happy Birthday Opallios!"

"Thanks, Sathrall. For everything." I called as I paid him and left the store, carrying my new crossbow at my side. 'First thing I got to do is practice with you.' I thought as I made my way back to Master.

 _[Flashback end]_

* * *

I went ahead and placed The Messenger aside and noticed that Master walked out towards me.

"I see you have been practicing with your weapon. That's good to hear. You should be almost ready."

I shook my head. "I won't be ready yet. I have to keep practicing."

"I know that, but you'll master it soon."

I looked at him. "I have read many books in my life. One of them I read taught me to live by a certain code. Although the words used are not exact, it goes like this; A normal man practices until he gets it right. An even greater man practices until he never gets it wrong. **[3]** " Master was silent. "These are some of the many words that I live by. I need to keep practicing until it is nothing more than muscle memory; so I don't even need to think.; instinct. I won't stop until then; and even then I will continue to train, almost as if it is never-ending."

"And we will do that when I help you with combat. For now, we need to begin your aura training." My face lit up.

"Awesome! Now I can try out my techniques!"

"I like your enthusiasm. What are these techniques you have been thinking about?"

"Tree climbing!" I declared with pride and raised my fist in the air. Master quirked an eyebrow.

"Care to elaborate on it?"

I blushed in embarrassment. "R-Right. It is difficult for me to really explain it, but basically tree climbing is a training technique that I has me use my aura to climb a tree using only my feet. If I were to master this, then I could "stick" to any solid surface. I can even take it a few steps further and be able to stand on water and air."

"That sounds pretty amazing. I never thought of using aura like that. If you think it'll work, then we best get started. Now, how does it begin?"

"I am going to need a knife." Master pulled one from his belt and handed it to me. I walked through the woods for a bit before I found my desired tree. I turned to him. "Now, I apply my aura to my feet and climb up the tree as high as I can go. I mark my highest point with the knife. All I have to do is make it to the top. So, yeah." I scratched the back of my head.

"And how long do you think it will take?"

"I honestly have no idea. But I will do it until I can't do it anymore." I said. Master nodded and he walked away for a bit and leaned against a tree to watch as I began to train. I concentrated a portion of my aura to my feet. When I thought I found my comfort zone, I started to run at the tree. Once I planted my foot on it and began to climb, I climbed about four feet before I had to make my mark and I began to fall. When I did fall, I landed on my back with a thud.

" **FUCK!** " I yelled.

"Are you okay?" Master asked me, but didn't move from his spot.

I got up, "Yeah, that landing really hurt! Thank God I have aura." I said rubbing my back. "That's going to be a common thing with this kind of training. I just got to keep trying." I looked at my climbing tree and tried to climb it again. Channeling my aura to my feet again, I climbed it. I was a bit lower than my first attempt, but not by much. This time I was able to make a rolling land. I would continue to go like this for however long it would take.

 **Six hours later**

I laid out on the ground, breathing heavy as I stared up at the sky. My aura was nearly gone, and I could barely move. I slowly got into a sitting position and looked up at my progress. I had multiple marks along the trunk. They were in roughly the same spot with the lowest mark being only 50 centimeters from my highest mark. I couldn't remember how many times I climbed the tree, I made a random guess at about 34 times. I smiled to myself as I looked at what I done. _I haven't felt this much pain since I started training with Saga._

* * *

 _[Flashback to Sometime during September]_

I was walking around Vale with my hands in my pockets bored out of my mind.

 _I really need something to do. I wonder what Saga is up to?_ I decided to head over there. It took me a bit, but I finally remembered where his house was. I knocked on the door and Saga opened it.

"Hey, Opals! What's up?"

"Nothing much. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out? Maybe do some training?"

"I don't mind doing both. Bet I'll kick your ass."

"You most likely will."

"Come on, I wasn't being serious. You need more confidence in yourself." I shrugged my shoulders. Saga and I left to go so stuff.

We were walking through a forested area and I asked Saga about his dad. He told me he works a lot and usually doesn't get home until around dinnertime. I told him his dad is just like mine and we had a good laugh. He also told me that his birthday was in a couple of weeks.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"You never asked."

"I should get you something."

"Nah. This training would be fine as a gift." He said as he stopped walking. I turned towards him and he had a smile on his face. I looked a little concerned.

"Saga, what are you going to do?" I asked him.

"I just got the greatest idea to train you." He then pulled out his grenade launcher.

"OH FUCK YOU!" I ran as fast as I could as I heard an explosion behind me and a gleeful laughter.

 _[Flashback end]_

* * *

I smiled at the memory. I then looked up at the sky and sighed. The sun was at its highest point signifying it being noon. I pulled out my Scroll and I was reminded of something else. Something that had chills going down my spine from me thinking of a person who is the exact opposite.

* * *

 _[Flashback to previous one]_

Saga and I were sitting down with our backs against a tree. We just had another 'training sequence' and by that it was me running away from Saga's constant gunfire.

"Soooo." He said causally. "Did you talk to that chick you saw at the club we went to a couple of weeks ago?"

I sighed. "No, I have not."

Saga turned towards me and had a look of disbelief. "Why the hell not? You have her number, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"But nothing! When a girl gives you her number, you have to call her!"

"How the hell am I supposed to know that? This kind of thing has **never** happened to me! Plus, she can be dangerous if crossed; and I don't even think she feels that way about me."

"Do you?"

"I don't fucking know."

"You still should call her. Even if she doesn't like you, at least try to talk to her a lot. Who knows, she may actually like you." He said with a smile.

"Fine, I'll call her. If it makes you fucking happy." I pulled out my Scroll and dialed her number. After a few seconds, it was picked up.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Hi, Cinder. It's Opallios. We met at Junior's Club."

"Oh, hi! I remember you. I'm **so** **happy** you called me and remembered me as well! I enjoyed our conversation." I had no idea why she placed emphasis on those words, and it had me worried.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you something." I said with a hint of doubt.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked me.

"I-I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat and chat." I asked.

Cinder was silent for what seemed like forever. "I would **love** to! I have a cafe I frequently go to. I'll send you the location. How does 1:30 sound?"

"That's okay with me."

"Great! I'll see you there."

"Likewise." She hung up. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Fuck my life." I mumbled under my breath.

Saga asked me. "How did it go?"

"I asked her if she wanted to eat and chat with me. She said it was okay and picked out a cafe. She wanted me to be there at 1:30."

"So, it's a date then?"

"No it's not a date! I doubt it would even go that far."

"Then what do you call it then if it isn't a date?"

"Not a goddamn date!" I answered. Saga chuckled as we headed back to Vale.

X-X-X

I arrived at the cafe right on time and Cinder was there drinking some tea. She saw me and smiled. I sat across from her and I was silent.

"What's the matter? Tongue-tied?" She said teasingly.

"Wha? N-No! I'm just lost in my thoughts." I stammered.

"Are they about me?" My face turned red and Cinder laughed. "You're so cute when you're flustered. I blushed even more and she noticed and laughed some more.

"Very funny." I said with mock hurt, but I couldn't hide my smile. "You have a nice laugh."

Cinder was caught off-guard. "You think so?" I nodded. "T-Thanks." I have never seen her act like this before.

 _Maybe I can change her_. I thought. We sat in silence.

"So then, you just wanted to talk?" She asked me.

"Yeah." I said as I scratched the back of my head.

"About what?"

"Anything. Small talk, the deeper questions. Just anything."

She was silent. A waitress came by and asked what I wanted. I made my order and she left. Cinder was still silent. She was staring at me and I was nervous as hell.

She asked me something that I didn't hear the first time. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked you what do you think of the Grimm? Do you think they can be stopped?"

I was about to answer when my food came around. I noticed that Cinder didn't have any food. "Did you already eat? I don't see any food."

"I wasn't hungry. I just wanted something to drink." Cinder said flatly.

"If you want some of my food, I'll gladly share."

"It's alright. I appreciate your offer though."

I slowly ate and Cinder just kept looking at me. I drank some water before speaking. "In answer to your question, I do not think it is possible to for the Grimm to be stopped."

Cinder raised her eyebrows. "I'm surprised. You are the first person I have met who has gave me that answer. Care to explain why?"

I munched on my food for a bit before answering. "I've been doing a lot of reading since my time here. The ones I found for Grimm say that Grimm are attracted to negative emotions. What's to say that Grimm are created from negative emotions? If the Grimm are in fact created by negative emotions, then it is possible to say that during times of great conflict such as war, where there is a high amount of negative emotions, that there would be a larger amount of Grimm. Even in times of peace, the Grimm would still be around because negative emotions exist in everyone. Even if the amount is small, it can build up over time. If the Grimm have been around since the dawn on man, and they survive through their battles, then it is possible that some of those Grimm still exist and they are just in hiding and could be extremely dangerous. I do not believe the Grimm are mindless beasts. I think they have a conscious. If the Grimm are such mindless beasts, then it shouldn't be possible for older ones to be able to hold their own against a Huntsman. Maybe the Grimm are capable of speech, but they speak telepathically. We know that when a Grimm dies, its body dissipates into nothingness. Who's to say that they are reborn when enough negative emotions are built up? Maybe the Grimm are actually our negative emotions taking a physical form."

I paused to drink some water.

"If the Grimm are our negative emotions personified, then it could be the kind of negative emotion that creates the Grimm. It can be the reason that distinguishes a Beowolf from a Nevermore from a Death Stalker. Since Grimm apparently do not possess an aura, it could mean that negative emotions give them the lack of an aura; that somehow aura is made from positive energy. Maybe somewhere on Remnant the Grimm have some sort of origin point from where they spawn. Or perhaps they are from another dimension. It is said that it is because of Dust and aura that humanity was able to survive, but what happens if we run out of Dust? Is it really an infinite source? If Dust is no longer available, what else can combat the Grimm? I believe that for every Huntsman and Huntress that is born, two Grimm are created. I think we are fighting a losing battle; that we are only delaying the inevitable. The only outcomes I see are the Grimm wiping out humanity – and by humanity I mean both humans and Faunus, humanity surviving and are forced underground as the Grimm take over, or we look to the stars for a new world to inhabit. In other words, I believe the Grimm will eventually have complete control over Remnant." Having finished my thoughts, I waited for Cinder to reply. I had to admit she looked really beautiful, especially with the sunlight shining down on her. _Damn it! What am I thinking? It would never work out!_

Cinder made her reply. "So, you think we are fighting a hopeless battle? Then why do you think we try to become Huntsmen? Why do **you** want to become one?"

"I think we try to become Huntsmen in order to try and protect the people of this world. I wanted to become a Huntsman because I was unable to protect my family and my closest friends back home. I was able to come to Vale to see if I could protect others. I do not want what happened to me to happen to others, even if they don't deserve it. Everyone deserves a second chance."

"I see."

We then talked for a bit more. About more philosophical questions, our weapons, hobbies, and the sun was starting to go down. Cinder noticed this and sighed. "Well then, you have given me something to think about Opallios."

"You can call me Opals if you want." I said as I looked at the ground. Cinder giggled at my nickname.

"Well Opals like I said, I have something to think about. I appreciated this 'date'." My face flushed and she laughed. "I think I really enjoy spending time with you."

"I enjoy your company as well." I paid for the food and I walked with her.

"Don't you have to be somewhere?"

"Not really. Plus, I would rather walk with you. I don't think it would be right of me to leave you like this, despite the fact I have no doubt that you are able to handle yourself."

"Well, I appreciate it nonetheless." Cinder said as she wrapped her arm around mine and rested her head on my shoulder (it was only then I realized I grew a lot during my training). She looked up at me and saw my red face and smiled.

 _What the hell is going on with me?_ I thought.

We walked like this for another 20 minutes before she let go of me. She told me she would be fine from here, but I insisted on going the rest of the way with her. When I realized what I said I turned red-faced and she laughed some more.

"You are a very intriguing person Opals. I'm glad I met you."

"You really mean that?"

"I do."

"What could you possibly find intriguing in someone like me?"

"Well: you make me laugh; you're smart; you have made me think of a life and other things differently; you're compassionate; considerate of others; and you're handsome. What **isn't** intriguing about you?"

"I guess I never saw myself like that." I said quietly.

"I can't imagine how a girl wouldn't fall for someone like you." Cinder said. I stared at her for any sign of lying, and I found none. "I wouldn't mind being able to spend more time with you."

"Likewise." I managed to say. She smiled before embracing me in a hug. My face was redder than a tomato from close contact.

"I hope I get to see you more often." She whispered rather suggestively in my ear before she broke the hug walked away.

I probably stood there for five minutes before I my brain was functioning again. _Why is this happening?_

 _[Flashback end]_

* * *

My cheeks heated up as I thought of how warm she was. _Why am I thinking like this?_ I checked my miniature aura scanner I built and I saw that it was nearly refilled. My stomach grumbled and I decided to go get something to eat before climbing the tree again. After that I started to climb the tree again. I was able to have most of my landings be relatively safe, but I decided to stop for today and practice my archery. After spending a good two hours on that I headed back inside to get some reading done. I read some more on the Grimm as well as the two riddle books I had. I decided that my routine would be the usual morning routine, followed by archery practice, then tree climbing. It would go like this for however long as I wanted it to be.

 **Two weeks later**

In the two weeks since I began training with The Messenger and tree climbing, I was relatively decent with the former and I made even better progress with the latter. I was able to make it up to the top of the tree, but I was nearly exhausted by the time I was finally able to make it to the top. I looked around me as I viewed everything from my position. A cool breeze swept over me.

"This isn't so bad." I said to myself. "I guess I should probably get down sometime before I freeze to death." After I my aura was back I walked back down the tree, where Master was waiting for me.

"Looks like you were able to make it to the top. Maybe you actually can walk on water and air. You do look tired though. I made some stew for you." I nodded as we went inside. I went back outside a few minutes after my meal to continue building up my stamina and endurance by running through the forest. I was able to leap over fallen trees and small ledges without losing stride with ease. I attempted to climb a tree and I did so without even thinking. I was able to make it to a higher branch. I rested there and I pulled an apple I had taken with me. As I munched on it, I noticed that the sun was starting to go down. I decided to head back, but I wanted to do so by tree-tops only and it proved to be more difficult than I initially thought. Once or twice I almost lost my footing, but I was able to make it back to the cabin. I landed on the ground and walked back inside.

"Hey Master? I was thinking about training to sense aura. Do you think you can do that for me?"

"I most certainly can." he replied. I nodded as I went upstairs to sleep.

Over the course of the rest of the month and into the beginning of December, I trained with the tree climbing and tree traveling as well as my archery skills. The first two I had down really well and the last one I was able to swiftly fire and reload within a couple of seconds, and I knew I should be able to do it faster. Master has been teaching me how to sense aura. It was a lot how it would happen in Dragon Ball back home. I had to constantly meditate to control my aura and feel the natural aura around me. Even when it was snowing, I would meditate. He even taught me how to use less energy with my movements. During the times when I wasn't training, I would talk with either Saga or Cinder; the former telling stories about his family and us just hanging out while constantly teasing me about the 'date' I had with Cinder. Cinder and I mostly just talk or sit in silence, enjoying each others company. I still had no idea how she feels about me if anything and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to 'make the move' or something like that because this is something I haven't done before, but she has been close to me on multiple occasions and I wasn't sure what she was trying to tell me. I also went ahead and bought myself another journal, but I kept my old one with me at all times. I did my usual routine and went to sleep, wondering how my life is turning out.

* * *

 **[Author's Comments]**

 **[1]** **I have no idea if the following bands or songs exist. I came up with their names on multiple band name generators as well as use some of the names I came up with to make a few "popular songs". If they do exist, then I do not own them.**

 **[2]** **That could change in an instant if people ask for it. Go to my Poll and vote. (Vote has ended as of September 20th, 2015)**

 **[3]** **If you know the book I'm talking about, you get a cookie and a fistbump.**

* * *

 **And I am done with Chapter 7! Huge thank you to LucarioKid for giving me advise on what to do with this Chapter. I wouldn't have been able to write it otherwise. Also, I'm uploading this all the way from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where I am currently on vacation.**

 **I'm doing my best to write the Cinder conversations, but I feel that those are my absolute weakest moments. If the poll goes where people want me to add romance to the story AND make Cinder the love interest, then I really need to get a Beta Reader before I decide to write any more scenes with Cinder because I know I am god-awful at writing moments like those and what I did in this Chapter (It also doesn't help that the only "sources" for romance I have are from Hollywood and books, which don't really help me at all).**

 **I don't know how you guys feel about the story so far since I don't get a whole lot of reviews, but all of the Beacon stuff will be happening soon. My plan is to have some more Chapters on training, with the next one being the end of the first year of training, before I start all that up. I don't know how many Chapters will define the second year of training before Beacon, but it won't be nearly as much as what I've been doing due to me wanting to focus on combat and aura during the second year. This also means that during the second year of training I will be coming up with more lighting themed attacks, so I'm excited for that.**

 **I am also working on the second Chapter of my second RWBY story, The White Demon, but I am having a writer's block with the combat so I don't know when I will have that one done.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review and submit an OC if you want. If you want to be my Beta Reader, as I am too nervous to ask, let me know!**

 **This has been TheTriforceofAwesomeness and I will see you in Chapter 8!**

 **Peace!**


	8. Aura Training and Research

**Chapter 8: Aura Training and Research**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. All other mentioned franchises belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

 **(August 20, 2015) Hello everyone! This is TTOA and I am here with the newest Chapter of _RWBY: THFE_. Well, you guys voted and now romance between Cinder Fall and myself will be in this fic; but not necessarily in this Chapter, but it will happen. I find it funny because I haven't really had this kind of thing happen to me so I can't have any kind of reference to pull from. I'm tempted to get a Beta Reader, but since I am nervous about asking others for help it has proven to be rather difficult.**

 **I've also been working on the next Chapter for _The White Demon_ as well as the sequel to this story. In fact at the time of me writing this I have 3 Chapters of the sequel story done. This is because that is when I am a Huntsman and it is just me meeting team RWBY and JNPR while going through the motions of the show with bits and pieces changed. I plan on continuing to write Chapters for the sequel as I write this story and _The White Demon_ and the Chapters should be uploaded whenever I get done with THFE (within a couple of days after I complete it, which will take a bit). If Volume 3 of RWBY is out by the time I upload the sequel, I will be adding its content to that story (even though it seems to be mostly focused on the tournament which I've seen many other fics do before so it really shouldn't be an issue).**

 **I also have another RWBY story that I am planning on making soon although I don't know when I will upload that one since it is still in the works.**

 **Also, due to college starting again for me soon it will be difficult for me to upload new Chapters.**

 **With that said, let's get started!**

* * *

 **(August 23, 2015) I realized something that I didn't really take into account until now and I feel stupid because of it. When I came to Remnant I said in my last Chapter that it was mid-November. I was going to make this Chapter focus on combat training, but I realized that it hasn't even been one year that I would've been on Remnant since I arrived in August. This means that I am still focusing on my aura training and a lot of the ideas I had originally planned for this Chapter would have to be placed on the back burner for a while because I wanted combat training to be the focus on my second year on Remnant. So basically I will be having this Chapter being focused on aura training for this year and then the next year be about combat. I can't believe I didn't realize this sooner.**

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"Speech"

 _Thought_

*Actions within dialogue*

{Letters/Notes}

 _[Flashback]_ begins/ends

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Narration** /Log_

X-X-X Scene Change

 **[#] Author's Comments which will be shown at the official end of the Chapter and before the ending A/N.**

* * *

 **January**

 _Opallios's Log_

 _I honestly don't have much to say in this entry. I guess it is the beginning of a new year. I still have a long way to go before I'm ready for Beacon. I'm just focusing on my aura training for the time being. Something **very** interesting happened near the end of last year and I feel it is something I will be interested in seeing how it all turns out. I'm still kind of bummed that Christmas doesn't exist in this world (maybe I can introduce it. I doubt it would really mean much)._

 _Other than that, there really hasn't been much going on so I guess I'll put my pen down and wait for tonight's next entry..._

* * *

" **Dammit I was so close that time!** " I shouted as I made my landed on the ground and stared at the tree I was trying to climb. It was a lot taller than the one I first climbed when I began my aura training in November, but I also had to deal with the cold weather and the ice that formed on its surface. It was actually because of the ice that I decided to climb this tree so I had an elemental hindrance and I wanted to test myself to see if I could overcome that. I could see my breath in the crisp air as I brushed the snow off of me. I had made some really good progress in the last couple of months, and I wanted to see if there was anything else I would be able to do. I found a rock for me to sit on to take a break after I wiped the snow off of it. I looked around me and I saw the sunlight shining off of the snow and it was honestly a beautiful sight. When I was younger, I used to think the reason for liking winter was because I didn't have to worry about my childhood fear of bugs that I had for over 13 years. After I got over said fear, I realized that it wasn't because of the lack of bugs, but I think it was because of how quiet and almost serene a winter forest felt for me. It was a very peaceful quiet and it was something I enjoyed a lot. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. I have read this paper a least a hundred times, and it was something I had hoped of mastering before I went to Beacon.

{Rasengan}

Created by the Fourth Hokage, taught by Pervy Sage, and quickly mastered by the Number One Hyperactive, Knucklehead Ninja. One of my absolute favorites and I wanted to recreate it in this world. The problem that I was having trouble controlling my aura. I originally thought about taking the somewhat easy route and absorb a Wind Dust crystal, but I had no idea what kind of effects it would have on my body and my aura. There were too many risks involved that I didn't want to take. Plus, I thought it would be more fun doing it the old fashion way instead. Another issue was I haven't mastered maintaining a steady stream of aura. The tree climbing makes it so I can apply my aura to certain things while maintaining a steady stream was done through water-walking. If I didn't master those two things then there is no way I could use Rasengan. _One day._ As I looked at the ball of aura that I drew to represent the attack, my mind drifted back towards the end of last year and the events that took place.

* * *

 _[Flashback to late December]_

I was walking around Vale with my hands in the pockets of my hoodie as I passed by others going to wherever they needed to go. I didn't really have a whole lot of things to do so I did one of my usual things which is to pull out my Scroll and call Saga. After a few moments it picked up.

"Sup, Opals?"

"Nothing much. I want you to meet me in the park."

"Alright, I'll be there in a bit." he hung up the phone.

I smiled to myself as I knew what I wanted to do and made my way over to the meeting place.

X-X-X

I sat on a park bench as I waited for Saga to show up. I noticed that there weren't a whole lot of people out there. There was the occasional couple walking along the path as well as a few ice-skaters on a lake, but the field next to this surprisingly large park was empty and it was perfect for what I had in store. I heard the crunching of boots on snow and I saw that Saga had arrived. His winter clothing were the same color as his normal outfit, but just made for winter conditions. He smiled at me.

"So, what did you want me here for?" he asked.

"I want to have a snowball fight." I told him.

Saga had a puzzled expression on his face. "What's a snowball fight?"

"You're kidding? You never had a snowball fight?" I asked with a bit of disbelief.

"I am just kidding." he said with a smug smile on his face. I face-palmed as Saga chuckled. "You are so gullible sometimes."

"And you are such an annoyance." I had a small smile. "But props to your acting. I honestly thought you never had a snowball fight."

"I used to have those with a couple of my neighbors." he said with a shrug. "So then, what are the rules going to be?"

"We each have 20 minutes to build our fort, after that the fight begins. Losers admit defeat. Also, no weapons or Semblances."

Saga nodded. "Seems simple enough. But it's only just the two of us. I don't know if that'll make it much fun."

"Think of it as training." I said and he smiled at that. "Good luck." I brought my fist out.

"Same to you." he said with a chuckle and we bumped fists and went over to the opposite sides of the field to begin building our forts.

As I was building my fort, I was trying to see if I could think of some kind of strategy. I wanted to use my aura sensing ability, but it was still really finicky and most like unreliable. I glanced over at Saga's fort and his was turning out quite nicely. The walls were at a decent height and covered his area relatively well. It made me think about how I should go and build up my own wall a bit more. As I made some snowballs for me to throw later, I noticed that a large group of people were walking along a path. It looked to be a family of ten with most of the family being girls. One of the smaller ones made a glance at me and we made eye contact. I smiled and made a small wave and her face seem to brighten up and she tugged on her mother's sleeve and pointed to me. The mother looked up at me and she seemed to be thinking about something. It was then after an exchange of words with her husband that the family made their way over to me.

One of the smaller girls made it over to me first. "Hi! Whatcha doin?" she asked.

I looked down at her and smiled. "I'm building a snow fort because I'm going to have a snowball fight with my best friend over there *points to Saga* although it is only just him and I at the moment. Would you like to join?"

"I would love to! I can have my sisters and brother play as well!" she beamed at me and she ran back over to the family and lead them over to me.

I turned towards Saga "Hey!" Saga looked up at me. "We have more people to play with, you cool with that?"

"Of course I am!" he called out.

I turned towards the family and I noticed that it was only the sisters that joined. Besides the girl I spoke to, most of them seemed to be around the same age. Three of them were taller than me while two were around my height and the girl I spoke to and someone else were shorter than me.

"It seems I have forgotten my manners. My name is Opallios Stone, buy you can just call me Opals. My friend over there is Saga Cilario."

The tallest of the group looked at me. "Well I'm Julie Arc, the oldest." She looked to have the most authority over the rest of them.

I had a shocked expression on my face. ' **The** Arc family?!'

"I'm Jessica, the party-goer!" she kept eyeing me for some reason.

"Jayden." she simply said and she looked kinda bored by this and her body language clearly showed little interest.

"Don't mind her, she's always like this. I'm Jackie by the way." She was the one that was my height.

"Just call me Jamie." one of them answered.

"I'm Jill." She was the girl I first spoke to.

"J-Jena." She seemed kind of shy and appeared to be the youngest out of all of them.

 _So these are the Arc sisters. At least in this universe._ "It's nice to meet you all."

Jill spoke up. "How old are you Opals?"

"I'm 20."

Julia asked her question, "I'm surprised by that. Are you a Huntsman?"

I shook my head. "I'm not. I'll actually be going to Beacon in a couple of years. I know, it's odd of me to be going to a school with me being as old as I am, but it's really not that big of a deal for me."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Jessica asked me to which the rest of the girls looked from her to me.

I blushed. "Not **really** , but I **guess** you **could** say I'm seeing someone. It's complicated." I honestly couldn't convince myself of giving a decent answer, but Jessica seemed to show slight disappointment. "I don't think Saga has one, but he shows off **way** too much for his own good." Jill and Jena giggled at that.

"I heard that!" he called out.

"Was counting on it!" I called back.

I then looked around at all of them and they all were admittedly beautiful. Jill and Jena were down right adorable; Jayden had an air of mystery to her; Julie had the looks of being a total boss at everything and it reminded me of Samus Aran; Jessica reminded me of a party-girl, but one who will also destroy you if you tried anything funny; and Jackie and Jamie seemed to be the down-to-earth kind of people;. However, there was someone who I really wanted to see and I looked back over at the parents for any sign of him. It was then I noticed a small boy with a white winter jacket with yellow trimming and a mess of blond hair trying to hide behind his beast of a father. Seriously the dad looked to be an accomplished Huntsman and he had a really great build. He was also really tall, taller than my own dad who was 5'9''.

 _Oh my god he looks so small he can't be more than 10._

Jessica noticed I wasn't looking at them and she followed my gaze. "I see you saw our brother. Hey Jaune! Come over here and join us!" 10-year-old Jaune slowly let go of his father and quickly but cautiously made his way over to his sisters. He looked up at me with his ocean blue eyes.

"I'-I'm Jaune." he stuttered.

I gave him a warm smile. "Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, **and** rolls off the tongue. I like it." He seemed to be comforted by me saying that. "Well then, it seems we now have eight people here now. I think the teams should be slit up via oldest vs. youngest. Saga is actually older than me by a month. Who is the fourth youngest among you?"

"I am." Jackie answered.

"Then from Jackie under you are with me. The rest of you are with Saga. The rules him and I have made are 20 minutes to build our forts, but since you all are joining we'll add another 10 minutes. After that the fight begins. No weapons or Semblances are allowed. Loser admits defeat. Good luck."

As we began to work on the fort, the older ones nodded while Jayden just shrugged and they made their way over to Saga. My team had Jackie, Jaune, Jill and Jena while Saga had Julie, Jessica, Jayden and Jamie. I noticed that Saga was trying to hit on them, and his expression showed that he was turned down. I chuckled at that.

"What's so funny?" Jaune asked me.

"Saga has a track record which involves him trying to hit on a girl and then get turned down. It happens every time and it never gets old."

"Why did we have to be paired up with you? I don't think we can win." Jena said the rest of them nodded in agreement.

"I wanted it to be an old vs. young rivalry. It was something my little sister and I used to have." I said that last sentence with a saddened tone.

Jaune noticed my change. "Is your sister not with you?"

"She's just very far away right now. It has been a while since I've seen her as well as my parents. I do things such as this to remind me of my family so the memories don't fade." Jena and Jill seemed to be on the verge of tears from my statement. "However, they are the reason I am doing what I am able to do. Their teachings and guidance has carried me this far and it will continue to do so." The group seemed to be encouraged by my words. I wasn't sure how long had passed, but I saw a snowball hit my back. I turned around and saw a few more coming at me. "Get down!" I called out and we all dove behind the cover of our fort. It seems the battle has begun. We then gathered some snowballs and we hurled them at each other. I made one hit Saga in his face and it was covered in snow. He stared at me as I laughed at his expression, but karma came back to bite me as I was hit with one in my face. I turned and I saw it came from Julie who had a smirk on her face. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. I noticed that Jaune was doing really well despite his earlier concerns, but he was breathing heavy and I had to provide some cover fire. We were actually holding our own. Jill was out as she was too tired to play anymore and Jena wasn't that far behind. I managed to hit Jayden with one and she gave me a look that would kill most men and it made me sweat-drop. She had three snowballs in each hand and threw them all at me so quickly I was barely able to dodge. One of them hit Jena and she gave up. Jamie was pelted and she had to retreat. It was only just Jaune and I left. I turned to the blond boy. "Jaune, this doesn't look so good, but we can take them."

"How do you expect that to happen?" He asked as snowballs were flying above us.

"I have a plan, but you are going to have to trust me. It is going to involve you in a big way. I won't be able to do this without you."

Jaune hesitated for a moment. "I don't know. What if it doesn't work?"

"Then we would've lost in a spectacular fashion and it would be among friends."

Jaune's eyes widened. "You think I'm your friend?"

"Of course I do. You are like the little brother I always wanted." Jaune smiled at that. "Now then, how about we try out that plan?" I began whispering in his ear.

 **With Saga**

 _Seems like Opals is either giving up, or is planning something big. This is our chance._ "Hey! It's now or never! We have to attack while we still have the advantage!" The older Arcs nodded and jumped from behind cover and charged with snowballs in their hands.

 **With Opallios**

"I hear them coming, ready Jaune?"

"Let's do this."

What happened next was something unexpected to our enemies. Our fort exploded in a shower of snow which made the older team stop in their tracks as they shielded themselves from the amount of snow coming towards them. Jessica, Jayden, and Jamie were unfortunately caught in it while Julie and Saga got out of the way. What they saw was a tall pile of snow rushing towards them and two little arms were sticking out. Julie was too stunned by this and she was hit with the snowballs which had her fall back into the pile of snow behind her and disappear. Jaune and I revealed ourselves and I had Jaune on my shoulders I then had faltered in my step. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Saga's face turn to shock, whether it was from my sudden trip or Jaune's apparent fall I was unsure. Speaking of Jaune, it was then the older Arcs heads popped out of the snow that they saw Jaune he leaping off of me as a footstool and was in the air as he was going to land on Saga. Unknown to me the rest of the Arc family looked shocked at Jaune's move. Saga was forced to catch Jaune, but the look in Jaune's eyes showed determination and not fear. He tackled Saga and despite Saga being twice Jaune's age, even he had a bit of trouble being hit by an airborne 10 year old. It was then that I made a rolling stop and pelted Saga with snowballs which the final nail in the coffin and it made him disappear in the pile of snow. Jaune was able to safely land on top of the snow pile and I hopped on top of it as well. The older Arc sisters and Saga looked at us in awe. (more so the Arcs looking at Jaune in awe). The sun was behind us as we towered over them. From our team's angle we looked like heroes who have just won an epic battle.

Saga sighed. "We admit defeat." Our teammates cheered as they ran over to us. I brought out my fist to Jaune. He looked at it confused.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked innocently.

I chuckled at his cluelessness. "I want to to fistbump me. It is my way of showing true companionship, Sworn Brothers if you will **[1]**." Jaune beamed at me and he fist-bumped me. The older ones pulled themselves out of the snow and made their way down. I saw Jaune's parents rushing over. Jaune's mom was being your typical worried mother and I knew Jaune was fine. I saw his dad analyzing me, but he had no comment. Saga walked up to me.

"That was an interesting strategy. Using Jaune's weight as a way to distract me while you dealt the final blow. Nice job."

I nodded. "I really could not have pulled it off without him."

"That reminds me. How did you make your fort explode like that? I know that wasn't your Semblance."

I slightly flinched. "It's something I am working on. It's currently in the Alpha stage." I said not wanting to spoil my attempt at making the Rasengan despite the fact I had no control of my aura. Saga shrugged. I noticed that some of the Arc family was starting to shiver from the cold and just being wet. "Hey everyone, I know of a place that has some absolutely amazing hot chocolate. How about we all head there? My treat!" My team cheered and we all headed over to where I knew of the place.

X-X-X

Jaune, Jackie, Jayden and myself occupied one booth; Saga was with Jessica, Julie, and Jamie. Jill and Jena were with their the parents. All of us were happily sipping our hot chocolate and making small conversations. I saw Jaune had barely touched his.

"You know Jaune, there is a reason it's called hot chocolate." I said as I took a sip from mine.

"I know. It's just that, even though we won that battle, I don't think I did that well." Jaune had a downed look on his face.

Jackie said. "You shouldn't bring yourself down like that. The way you leaped off of Opals's shoulders was freaking awesome!" the others nodded in agreement.

Jayden spoke next. "I think you have what it takes to be a Huntsman." Jaune visibly sighed at that.

"I don't think I'll be strong enough. I always wanted to be a Huntsman like you, Julie, and Jessica; but I don't think I'll ever be good enough."

I clasped my hand on Jaune's shoulder and he was startled by this and he looked up at me. "Jaune, I may not know you very well, but I can assure you that you definitely have the means of being a Huntsman. I saw the way you were fighting and you had a lot of determination. I may have a bit more training than you, but even when I was getting tired you weren't even close to it. That just shows that you have the determination to keep going **long** after most would give up." I took a large gulp of my mug. "Strength is a factor that plays a role as a Huntsman, but it will only take you so far. I can tell just by looking at you that you show compassion towards complete strangers. You will fight for what you believe in and achieve your dreams." I finished off my mug. "I have read an absurdly large amount of books in my life, and it turn I have learned a few things and have started to quote some of my favorites. There was one in particular I like a lot. "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure." You fear that you will become a failure and not live up to your own expectations. You need to hold on to your dreams, for I know that you will achieve them even if you may think you won't. Your courage reminds me of a hero I have a huge amount of admiration for. He would be able to dispel even the greatest of darkness. His courage is so great that his courage is the very thing that gives him his strength. You have that deep inside you, it just needs to be brought out." He had a big smile on his face and I looked into his eyes and they were full of admiration. The rest of the tables gotten silent. I ruffled Jaune's hair. "I hope we will see each other again. I can't wait to see what kind of person you will turn out to be." I paid for the bill and everyone began to leave. I was getting up myself as I was the second to last person to leave when I felt a hand clasp my shoulder. I turned around and I saw that it was Jaune's dad.

"Opallios, you have done my family a great service. You have given my son hope. I had my own doubts of him, but now I see that he has what it takes. I have never seen him so happy. I wanted to thank you for what you have done. My name is Jeremiah. I heard that you haven't seen your family in a long time. You are always welcomed in the Arc household." I was stunned at his words. "I will begin training him. He is going to do great things. Your parents would be proud of what you have been doing. Thank you so much." I couldn't form words as I rubbed my eyes. Jeremiah left and I stood there for a few moments before I made my way back to the cabin.

 _[End flashback]_

* * *

 _I hope you are proud of me Mom; Dad._ I wiped my eyes and placed the paper back in my pocket and began to climb the tree again with new vigor. I was able to see the very top before I had to climb down. Deciding that I wanted to take a break, I headed inside to rest before I would go back outside and try to sense aura. I decided to see if I could sense some plants that only grow at this time of year so I could add them to my collection of ingredients for potions and poisons. I have been doing relatively well at mixing the various alchemy ingredients I have been able to gather around here. Due to me reading various alchemy books, I have been able to tell the differences between each ingredient I have gathered. Some of them acted as medicine, some could be cooked or made into tea, some could be made into a poison. As I would study the properties of each ingredient I would recognize their aura since it would help me distinguish some from others as I remembered that some plants mimic a poisonous version of itself as a defense mechanism **[2]**. I sat down near the rock I was sitting at and began to meditate. Although my eyes weren't open, I could **feel** the aura around me. I decided to focus on finding some more Angel's Teardrops since I was beginning to run a bit low on them. I recalled from { _Herbalist's Guide to Remnant}_ that Angel's Teardrops usually grew in mountainous regions, but since wind carries their seeds downwards, they also can grow by lakes and rivers; however, Angel's Teardrops are only available during the winter so the time to gather them would be now. There's a frozen lake I knew wasn't too far from where I currently was due to how much tracking I would do on my own. After I opened my eyes, I hopped into the trees and began to make my way over to where I needed to go. When I got to the lake it didn't take me long to locate them and I fumbled around in my pockets for the small book I use to preserve my alchemy ingredients only to realize I left it back in the cabin. _Dammit._ I groaned as I had to turn around and go back to get my book. _Might as well take my pack as well in-case I find anything of use._ I hopped back into the trees.

 **One quick trip later**

I located the Angel's Teardrops with my aura and they were on the other side of the lake. I could try to cross it, but I wasn't sure how the ice was, and since I had some things in my pack that were valuable I didn't want to risk getting them wet. I put my hands in my pockets and casually walked over to the other side. Taking in my current surrounds, I saw the sunlight shining off of the frozen lake and on the snow on the ground. I would have to blink a few times so wouldn't stare at it for too long as it was very bright. It was also really quiet here. The only sounds being made were my boots crunching on the snow. It was almost surreal and I thought this was the best thing for me as someone who prefers to be alone in a quiet area. Despite this, having this area be this quiet also means something is bound to go wrong. I can't even count how many times in movies and books and video games there has been a scene when it's the 'it's-quiet-too-quiet cliché'. Depending the genre, it usually results in a jump-scare or having a surprise battle take place. It is because of this cliché that I am on my guard and I feel like I am basically waiting for **something** to happen. As if my mind was read, I heard a low growl coming from somewhere nearby. Instinct told me to take higher ground. I leaped into the trees while I activated my armor and as soon as I made contact with my landing I pulled out The Messenger and scanned my area. I checked my radar for any signs of movement. I didn't move from my spot unless something was right beneath me. I waited a few seconds, then minutes. There was silence. I knew that it wasn't just my head messing with me; something was nearby. I noticed movement near the north-eastern section of my radar. I aim my crossbow in that direction and paused to see what it was.

" **Shit**."

What was in my sights was a dead Ursa Major and in front of it was an Alta Amur. I remembered reading about this species of Grimm and the creature instantly reminded me of Earth's Siberian tiger (sometimes called the Amur tiger) **[3]**. The fact that it was in this cold region as well as presumably killed the Ursa, since Siberian tiger's can fight bears, confirmed my suspicions. I figured that I had come across it while it was feeding and most likely provoked it. I would have no choice but to kill the Alta Amur. I mentally sighed since I didn't really have a reason to kill it and I was the one that disturbed it. However, I figured it would track me down later on. I fired four bolts in about three seconds. The Alta Amur didn't even get a chance to move as it dropped dead.

 _I really didn't want to kill it_. I sighed. I decided to stay near the trees until I got to the other side of the lake.

I was able to make it to the other side and I found a small group of five Angel's Teardrops and I carefully knelt down near the plants and brought out my storage book and my harvesting knife from my pack. I carefully cut a few of the Angel's Teardrops, but not all of the ones that I found here since they should be kept around as long as they could. I opened a few empty pages in my storage book and placed the Angel's Teardrops inside the book. I slowly closed the book and placed my tools in my pack. Satisfied with how it turned out, I finished going around the lake and made my way back.

I got back to the cabin and I saw that there were a couple of books on the table as well as a note. I picked up the note first.

 _{Read these books.}_

I figured this was from Master since I couldn't quite sense him here so I picked up the one with a picture of a menacing looking dragon-like Grimm. I got over to the leather chair and opened it up.

 _{Rathalos_

 _Also comes in Azure and Silver variants._

 _Terrible wyverns called the 'Kings of the Skies'. Along with Rathians, they stake wide territories centered around their nests. Rathalos descend on invaders from the sky, attacking with poison claws and breath of fire. are large, bipedal wyverns with a spiny, armored hide covering their body. Their outer shell features much brighter and more vibrant colors than that of their female counterpart, the_ _Rathian_ _. It is primarily bright red, with black markings throughout. Like the Rathian, Rathalos possess a flame sac which is used to produce deadly flaming projectiles from the mouth.}_

I would hate to go up against one of those." I read on. _{The talons upon a their feet are highly poisonous and are known to to inflict toxic mortal wounds on larger prey. The only known cure for this is a Golden Potion of Healing.}_

"Note to self, find out how to make these potions." _{In addition, their long, thick tail features a heavy spiked club at the end. Rathalos' wing membranes feature ornate patterns which are likely used to attract potential mates._ _Rathalos are highly territorial monsters, and as such, are aggressive towards intruders. They will chase away or attempt to kill any monster which may pose a threat to their land. While hunting, Rathalos will stalk prey from the air before swooping in for the kill. Once they have successfully brought down their prey, they will carry it away to eat in private, safe from scavengers or other large monsters which might attempt to steal the kill. Rathalos have been spotted in many kinds of environments, from the temperate_ _Forest and Hills_ _to the extreme heat of the_ _Volcano_ _. As a master of flight, they will travel far and wide, searching for prey from the skies.}_

I stopped reading so I could absorb all of this information. I searched my alchemy book to how I could create a Golden Potion of Healing; however, I was unable to find the exact ingredients. 'Maybe there is another book I could find that has it.' I got up and searched throughout the house to find it, but there wasn't anything. So I did the next best thing by heading to one of the only places I could think of that would have the books I would be looking for.

X-X-X

I walked into the bookstore to see if I could find the recipe to make the Golden Potion of Healing. I waited a few minutes and the owner of the store walked up to his desk.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade home to every book under the sun- hey Opallios! What are you looking for this time? Is it more science-fiction? Fantasy? Or are you going to dip your toes into a little romance?"

I smiled. "I don't think I'll delve into romance just yet Tukson, I am looking for something special."

"What is it then?" he asked.

"I'm going to need all of your books related to alchemy. I'm trying to figure out how to create a specific potion and none of the books I currently own have what I'm looking for."

"I think I can help you out with that, but I'm going to need to check in the back. You don't mind waiting do you?"

"I don't mind." I said with a smile. Tukson nodded and he headed into the back. I decided to scan the mystery section as I figured there could be a few I could try and get into. I wasn't the biggest fan of the genre as my only exposure to it back home was my dad's two volumes of the Sherlock Holmes that supposedly included every story in those two volumes. I saw a couple that looked interesting: { _Visions from Beyond the Grave}_ and { _Figure of Darkness}_. I read the summary of both of the books and decided that I would read them. It would at least give me something to read if I'm ever bored and I'm not busy training. I went ahead and placed them at my side and conveniently Tukson was back with a small stack of books which looked like they've been taken care of despite their aged look.

"These are all the ones I have here. I don't know if they will help you out, but it's all I have." he noticed I had a couple of books with me. "I see you picked a couple of other ones to read. Will this be all this time?"

"I think so. How much do I owe you this time?"

"453 Lien." My eyes slightly widened.

"I'm guessing those alchemy books are what's making the price higher than normal?"

"Yeah, these books aren't used anymore, but they are really valuable. Is that a problem?"

"I never said it was, I just figured it was pricey **because** the books are rare. I have enough." I pulled a card out of my pocket and gave it to Tukson. He scanned it before handing it back to me and I placed the books in my pack. I waved good-bye and went back to the cabin to do a bit of research.

X-X-X

I sat in the chair and decided to see if the book, { _Potions and Poisons}_ , had anything. I read for about three hours, and although it didn't have the Golden Potion of Healing, I did learn how to make a shit-ton of different potions and poisons. With the ingredients I had on me, I could make various potions that cured a multitude of diseases and internal pains. In turn I could make poisons that were slow and painful, ones that caused hallucinations, ones that could freeze blood. The possibilities seemed endless. I made a mental note to make some of the poisons for only situations that may call for the possible use of said poisons as well as make the cure for each of them. The next book I decided to read was { _Alchemy: A Guide to a Forgotten Art}_. Seeing the book holds promise, I began reading.

 _{Before the common use of Aura and advancements in medicine, man would use potions as a way to cure various illnesses and diseases. They were used to help humans and Faunus survive the terrors of the Creatures of Grimm. However, with more and more people using Aura, less wounds were received and therefore potions became less used. After the Human-Faunus War, advancements in medicine became more common and potions were considered obsolete._

 _However, it was discovered that Aura does not function as a means to cure diseases and illness; and although medicine had improved greatly over the years, there are still some illnesses and poisons that only a potion could cure. However, the use of alchemy was considered to be a forgotten art since there were very few historical texts containing recipes for various potions._

 _This book was created from most of the found and preserved documents related to alchemy and will be updated with more volumes as more recipes are discovered.}_ I checked the index of the book to see if the potion I was looking was in here. I was able to find it and I flipped to it.

 _{The Golden Potion of Healing_

 _This is one of the rarest potions ever created. It is the only one known to be able to cure the poison from a Rathalos claw. It is a potion kept in high regard of alchemists and those who are able to create it are considered to be highly skilled. It was rumored that this recipe was lost, but archaeologists were able to uncover it and document it for scientific purposes._

 _The ingredients to make this potion is Ithron and Red Othoilroot.}_

I finally figured out what it was, I bookmarked the page and pulled out the third and final alchemy book I bought from Tukson, { _The Ingredients to the Best Potions and Poisons}_. I checked the index for the two ingredients and both of them were found in this book. I discovered that the Ithron used to be an extremely rare plant. The colors of the thorns are a light blue and the flower is of a darker blue. The reason why it was so rare was because pollinators only could help the plant reproduce, but the flower itself was poisonous to most. It was only through mutations and some evolution that pollinators were able to become immune to the poisonous effects of the flower and be able to spread it across Remnant making it more common. Relieved that Ithron is more common now and could be found almost anywhere, I went ahead and searched for the Red Othoilroot. What I found had me worried. The book told me Red Othoilroot was only available in very specific caves around Remnant. It is unknown how many of the caves have the plant or how it was able to spread across entire continents, but if one was lucky enough to have the cave containing the plant, you could find it deep underground and it gives off a red glow as well as emit a faint ringing sound. Its whiter variation could be found virtually anywhere and it also gave off a faint ringing sound and glowed. It's theorized that Red Othoilroot would be found in many caves in ancient times if the world was a single landmass, but if today's continents have split up from a supposed single landmass, the amount of caves containing the plant would go down. It is unknown if the plant reproduces.

 _It kind of reminds me of Skyrim's Crimson Ninroot and the normal Ninroot._ Although I personally haven't encountered Othoilroots, I was hopeful some of the caves near Beacon had them or this will be a very difficult task. As I continued to read, Red Othoilroot could only combine with a limited amount of other alchemy ingredients. When creating potions and poisons with this plant, they are some of the most potent ones. _At least I had a small chance of finding what I would be looking for and it would be a powerful one at that._ I made a mental note to search as many caves as I could to see if they had Red Othoilroots. I looked at my watch and saw that it was about 5 P.M. so I decided to go see if I could try and master water-walking. I figured the best way to master this and all of my other favorite _Naruto_ techniques was to do it like the show. I haven't read the manga, or any other manga, as I like to watch the show rather than read about it and I sometimes wondered to myself why I didn't read manga despite the fact that I enjoy reading. I still haven't figured out the reason as to why I don't and I realized that manga probably doesn't exist in this world so I would never get the chance to read any. I shook the thoughts out of my head as I made my way to the frozen lake I went to earlier.

I made it to the lake and it was surprisingly pleasant out here. I decided that it would be best if I trained now despite the fact that I haven't really mastered my tree-climbing training. I obviously could've waited for spring for me to attempt the water-walking technique, but I figured the sooner the better. I traveled out to almost the middle of the lake. I brought Black Lightning out and raised it above my head. I channeled a bit of my aura into my mace and brought it down onto the ice.

 **BAROOOM** **[4]**

There were chunks of ice flying in multiple directions and I barely was able to escape the debris. I stumbled a lot as I tried to make it to the shore as the ice broke all around me. I dove towards the shore as the last of the ice broke. I was breathing heavily as I looked at my handiwork.

 _I think I **might've** overdid it._ I thought with a sheepish chuckle. I got up and made a running start towards the lake. I was about to take my first step running when I planted my feet out to slow myself down. I slide for a bit before coming to the very edge and nearly lost my balance. I landed on my butt and sighed in relief, but I was slightly confused as to why I stopped. I looked out onto the lake and I figured out why I stopped.

"As much as I want to try out water-walking, I think it would be better if I **don't** catch hypothermia. Thanks brain for letting me know." I looked down at my reflection in the water and I noticed that I had a lot of hair on top of my head. "I seriously need a haircut." I saw that I nearly had an Afro and I usually don't let my hair grow out this much. I frowned as I remembered that my dad would always cut my hair and I was getting to the point where I would have to go find a barber. "Better start looking. I hope they can deal with my kind of hair." I decided to head back to Vale to see if they have a barbershop.

 **One haircut later**

It was ten after six when I made it back to the cabin. I made myself a quick meal and headed back outside to practice tree-climbing. I trained until I nearly drained my aura. I could barely see my progress as it was really dark outside, but I think I made it higher than I have previously, I decided to activate my armor and it's night-vision feature to see what I've done. I saw that my highest point was about two-thirds away from the top of the tree. Somewhat disappointed with my progress I decided to go back inside and start my nightly routine. I took a shower to get all of the excess hair on my head that forms from my hair being cut. I made a mental note to remind myself to cut my hair once every few weeks since that is the amount of time it takes for it to regrow. I finished off my nightly routine with my journal entry and let sleep consume me.

* * *

 **[Author's Comments]**

 **[1]** **Think of Killer Bee and you'll understand what I mean.**

 **[2]** **Think of Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and finding the various plants while in Wraith mode and have them glow specific colors**.

 **[3]** **The Alta part comes from the Siberian tiger's scientific name Pantheria Tigris Aaltacia**.

 **[4]** **When I wrote this, I said it really fast.**

* * *

 **So I finally got this story updated. Once again I am incredibly sorry for not updating this sooner.**

 **I kinda haphazardly wrote the Arc sisters and didn't really describe them a whole lot because I wanted to make changes to Jaune and I felt involving him and his sisters in a snowball fight was the best option for me. Plus I suck at writing characters. I may have some of them be at Beacon, but I doubt I'm going to since I didn't give them a Semblance or a weapon.**

 **I want to know if you guys are okay with me having the potions in this story. I don't plan on using a whole lot of them and I usually have poisons along with the cure and I would only use them in dire situations. I have plans on teaching other people some of my skills later down the road.**

 **I'm going to be changing the content rating of this story to M within a few Chapters. My reasoning is I tend to swear a lot more around my friends and the romance might get a little suggestive, but not into lemon territory (I am definitely NOT ready for that). There will also be alcohol consumption later on. I apologize if any of you are upset by this. I will let you know in an Author's Note when the change will happen and then the next Chapter after that will start the M stuff.**

 **This has been TTOA and I will see you in Chapter 9.**

 **Peace!**

* * *

 **(October 3, 2015)** **I am going to change the content rating to M starting in Chapter 9.**


	9. CHEESECAKE!

**Chapter 9: CHEESECAKE! \\(^o^)/**

* * *

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. All other mentioned franchises belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

 **(September 27th, 2015) Hi everyone TTOA here with Chapter 9 of RWBY: The Hunter from Earth! I'm really excited because I have new stories uploaded and I just really liked writing this Chapter – if the title is anything to go by.**

 **If you want to see what stories I'm working on or what ones I plan on writing, be sure to check my Profile every so often for all of my story updates!**

 **Without further ado, lets begin Chapter 9!**

* * *

"Speech"

 _Thought_

*Actions within dialogue*

{Letters/Notes}

 _[Flashback]_ begins/ends

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Narration** /Log_

X-X-X Scene Change

 **~Point of View~**

 **[#] Author's Comments which will be shown at the official end of the Chapter and before the ending A/N.**

* * *

 **March**

 _Opallios's Log_

 _So. It's been a couple of months since I last wrote. I decided to take a break from writing in this since I figured I didn't need to write in this every single day. As far as what happened in those two months since I last wrote, which I think was in January or something, I did some decorating at the waterfall cave I sometimes go to. Other than that, I pretty much did my usual training routine of keeping my body up, mastering my Tree Climbing, which after much consideration I decided to call it Aura Concentration, and trying to have better control of my Lightning Dust so it doesn't drain my body so much. I'm getting much better with my weapons, but Master hasn't really taught me any kind of combat strategies and he instead wants me to read. I'm not complaining since I love reading and the more I get to learn about this world the better. In my free time I am keeping up my part-time job at The Wolf of the Moon, hanging out with Saga, and keeping in touch with Cinder._

 _On the subject of Cinder, I still don't know how I really feel about her and I don't know how she feels about me. I can't tell if she is messing with me or actually has feelings for me. It's all very confusing for me, but I don't really bring it up for fear of upsetting her._

 _I don't know what I'll be doing tomorrow, I think it'll just be a relaxing one..._

* * *

 **Downtown Vale**

Saga and I were walking around not really doing anything. We were just bored and were trying to find something to do.

"What do you want to do?" Saga asked. I shrugged my shoulders. "We need something to do."

"Wish I could help you there." I said. We continued walking around aimlessly. "I have a question."

"What is it?" Saga turned to me.

"How did you unlock your Semblance?"

Saga was silent for a bit. "I guess I was experimenting with something and I stored a book I was reading. When I didn't think I was able to get it back, it just kind of appeared." Saga answered.

"That pretty cool. I got into a fight at a cafe." I said bluntly. Something caught my eye.

 **~Saga~**

"That's, interesting." I said to Opals. He didn't say anything. I glanced at him and saw he was gone. I stopped and looked around before I saw him staring at something from across the street. I walked over to him. "What are you staring at? Someone caught your interest? Better not let your girlfriend know." I asked jokingly. I looked at him and he didn't say anything. "Hey, you alright?" I asked hesitantly.

" **CHEESECAKE**!" he suddenly shouted and in an instant he was at the window of the store. It took me a minute to register him not being near me and I quickly made my way over to him. "We're going in here." Opals said almost authoritatively.

"What?"

" **Now**."

"Okay!" I said and we headed inside. When we walked in there was a lot of different flavors of cheesecake. I didn't understand what had gotten into Opals, but the look on his face and especially the brightness of his eyes answered my questions. _He looks like a kid in a candy store._ I chuckled but he seemed to pay me no mind as he slowly browsed the flavors. He walked back and forth along the isle looking at every flavor as if it was a do-or-die mission. I noticed a female clerk was watching him and I decided to use my skills to talk to her. "I don't know what's up with him. I'm just here for the ride." I said casually. The girl turned towards me and rolled her eyes. "Come on! I'm here too!"

"Are you looking to buy something?" she asked with so much bluntness not even the bluntest of weapons could pair up to it and it hurt me a little bit. I honestly wasn't a big cheesecake fan.

"Not really." I said slowly. "But I'm looking for someone to hang out with. What do you say?"

"Sorry. Not interested." she said with a smirk. I hung my head in shame.

 _Why is it always me?_ I glanced over at Opals and he hovered over a particular slice. From the looks of it it appeared to be a cinnamon roll flavor. He was looking at it as if it was the Holy Grail or something. I heard him make a purchase and I decided to find a seat for us to sit down at. He came by a few moments later with a plastic fork and some napkins and slowly began to eat his cheesecake, taking small bites to savor the flavor. I noticed his expressions were in ecstasy and I was slightly creeped out by it because I honestly didn't think he could make those kind of faces.

I decided to mess with him for a bit. "You better make those faces when your with Cinder."

He nearly choked on the cheesecake. After a full minute of choking, he was finally able to speak. " **Not. Funny.** " he said with such a cold demeanor that I felt the room temperature drop. He also gave me a death glare so deadly that I think even Death himself would avert his gaze. "Don't even joke about that. I would never even **think** of doing something like that." He continued to eat what was left of his cheesecake.

"Jeez, I was just joking. No need to take it so seriously." I said.

"I don't care. I will never stoop myself to be so **low**." he said with a small hint of anger.

"Alright, I'm sorry. I won't joke about it again." I said with sincerity.

" **Ever**." he deadpanned as he took the last bite of the cheesecake. He wiped his mouth of crumbs on his face and got up to dispose of his trash. He sat back down and brought out his music player and started to listen to his music. I could slightly hear it and it sounded like a metal song. I knew I wasn't supposed to bother him while he had his music playing, but I had a couple of questions to ask him.

"Why do you like cheesecake so much?" I asked.

Opals took out one earbud and looked at me before he spoke. "Cheesecake is my absolute favorite dessert. There were not any places like this close to home, and when I came to Vale I was nervous that I wasn't going to be able to have cheesecake; but you see that's not the case."

"What's your favorite flavor?"

He paused and he took on a thinking pose by stroking his goatee. "I honestly don't have a favorite, but a few are the cinnamon roll one I just had – along with any cinnamon flavored ones – strawberry; plain; ones with a chocolate crust instead of graham cracker, although I can go with either or; chocolate cheesecakes; and one of my personal favorites is a chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake since cookie dough ice-cream is one of my favorite flavors."

"Soooo, does this mean I can bribe you with cheesecake?" I asked him.

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Elaborate."

"I mean, if there was something I wanted you to do and you didn't want to do it, could I bribe you with cheesecake in order for you to do the task?"

He thought about it for a bit. "That would only work 98% of the time."

"What's the other 2%?"

"It's a no since I wouldn't do anything that puts my life or friends in danger. I may love cheesecake, but it's not worth risking my life over. It also may just be no simply because I don't want to do it and not even bribing me with multiple slices or an entire platter would convince me since I would despise the thing so much that cheesecake will not be worth it."

'I'll keep that in mind.' I nodded. "So, about Cinder..."

"What is it?" he said with slight annoyance.

"When **are** you going to tell her how you feel?"

He sighed. "Let's get out of here, first. I would rather not talk about it here. In fact, I have a good place to talk about this with you. Follow me." I nodded in understanding and we got up to leave.

 **Somewhere**

It took us a bit but Opals lead me to a forest and he leaped into the trees and looked down at me. I was startled that he could easily do that.

"Since when could you do that!?" I called to him.

He smiled. "It's part of my training. I use this forest to train my aura." I thought he was going to continue on that thought, but he didn't. "Try and keep up." He began to leap through the trees and I had to almost sprint to keep up with him.

 **Someplace new**

I could hear water running nearby and I came onto a clearing and I was sweating and out of breath. I looked around for Opals and he was standing at the shoreline of a small basin that had a huge waterfall. I walked over to him and stood next to him.

"I call this area my meditation realm. It's a place I go to whenever I want some piece and quiet. Follow me." he said without turning to me. He walked along the edge of the basin until he got to the waterfall. I hesitated at first, but followed him. He got to a rocky ledge and hoisted himself onto it. He offered his hand and pulled me up. He then slowly made his way behind the waterfall and into a cave. I followed him and what I saw were a fuck-ton of lit candles along the sides of the surprisingly large cavern. There also were a few tables which had some vials and Dust. There was also a couple of small areas where some strange plants grew. There was also some archery targets and practice dummies near the back and a large mat or rug of some sort in the middle of the room. The entire cave was lit with candles and a couple of torches.

"What is all of this?" I asked with wonder.

"This is my little base behind the waterfall. I mostly come here to meditate and practice my alchemy. On occasion I would practice my weapons, but only when I wanted to test out a new Dust combination or poison. How the water sounds in this cave is the main reason why I chose this area. I've been building this place up for the past couple of months. You are the first person to see all of this."

"This is really impressive. How were you able to afford all of this?"

"Most of the stuff I gathered around this forest, but I paid for the targets, the practice dummies, the rug, the candles, and the Dust. I made the tables and torches myself. If you're wondering how this cave doesn't get spotted at night, I put out the candles and torches before I leave, and I usually don't work at night. If I did, I would rather use the Night Vision feature on my armor to find my way here until I got to the waterfall. I'll have an easier way of getting in here, but I need to practice before I can pull that off." he explained.

"You've really outdone yourself." I said. He smiled before he sighed.

"Sit down over here." Opals gestured over to the rug. "Don't worry, the rug has fire dust woven in it so it's always dry."

 **~Opallios~**

I had Saga sit across from me on the rug. I took in a deep breath. "I'm going to let you know now, it is a bit difficult for me to express my feelings to others. I'm going to tell you some things I did during the two months before I tell you what I think of Cinder. I would rather you not laugh at me, but I don't mind if you do." Saga nodded his head. "Where I come from, February 14th is a special day for people..."

* * *

 _[Flashback to February 14th]_

I looked at the calender on my Scroll and was surprised that today was February 14th. Back on Earth I would have paid no mind to it or I would roll my eyes in annoyance. This is because it is Valentine's Day and I was absolutely **sick** of it. I hated the fact that people would make cards for each other and the whole love aspect of it was stupid in my opinion. As I got older, I think the reason for my hatred of Valentine's Day was because I had no one to be my Valentine. I was so used to being alone that I didn't think anyone really cared about me. I was honestly okay with being alone as it's where I was most comfortable. However, I am no longer on Earth and I actually might have someone to call my Valentine. Cinder and I have been talking to each other a lot these past few months and I think we have gotten close in some sort of regard. There is no denying I find Cinder attractive, but what knowledge I have of her from the show is preventing me from providing certain feelings. I was always cautious around her, but at the same time I enjoyed her company. She seemed to enjoy mine as well, but there is a part of my brain that is unsure of it. I was walking around Vale and I noticed there wasn't really anything that was letting me know if Valentine's Day was even celebrated. I guess the problem is that Remnant seems to not celebrate any of the holidays Earth has, but Volume Three didn't come out yet and I wasn't even sure what was going to be announced at RTX.

As I thought more about RTX, I was a bit upset that I wasn't going to be able to see it and I was curious as to what would be featured at the RWBY panel. I figured that Volume Three would be mostly about the tournament since it was mentioned in Volume Two and it seems to be a big deal. Weiss having a sister was briefly mentioned in an episode as well as Qrow having a silhouetted appearance. I imagined that they would possibly be announced at RTX or at the very least have character designs. Since the tournament would be the most likely thing to talk about at RTX, there was also a possibility for new teams to be announced as well. I was pretty sure figurines for the rest of team JNPR would be there as well. A final thought came to mind was Ren's new voice actor. With Monty Oum's sudden passing, I was worried that Ren would either be absent or be changed into a mute or something. I didn't know Monty Oum on a personal level, but I knew some of his other projects before RWBY. I believed Ren would get a new voice actor and I figured it would be someone good although I had no idea who would fit the role. This was all just speculation in my head, but given what happened between the end of Volume Two and the time before I left Earth, I figured those were the most likely options **[1]**.

I placed my thoughts back to today. I decided to make a card for her. It wasn't much, it just said be my Valentine just this once or something along those lines. I knew it was extremely corny to do something like this and I could probably spend my time better, but for some reason I felt I needed to do this. I already called her for us to meet in the park and I was just about to arrive there.

I got there and I glanced around for her. I would try to use my aura sensing ability, but I was still a bit rusty with it. I spotted her sitting on a park bench in front of a fountain. I was surprised to find out she was wearing a more casual outfit and not some kind of dress I was so used to seeing her in. Her out fit consisted of a black jean jacket over a red sleeve wrap top. She was wearing a dark red, almost black colored pair of skinny jeans which admittedly showed what a killer figure she has-

* * *

"So you were **definitely** checking her out."

"Dammit Saga! Don't interrupt me again or so help me god I will end you!" I yelled with my face turning red.

Saga was unfazed by my pointless threat. "But you're not denying that you were checking her out." He said with a shit-eating grin.

"...Shut up." I pouted as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Anyway, where was I?"

* * *

She wasn't looking at me and I did my best not to stare at her. I seriously can't help but admire at how beautiful Cinder is. I took in a deep breath and walked over to her. She noticed me walking over to her and her face visibly brightened.

"Hey, Opals." she greeted me.

"Hi, Cinder. I hope I didn't mess anything up." I replied with a small smile.

"Oh you're fine. Is there any reason you wanted me to be here?" she asked me.

I averted my gaze and shuffled my feet. "Y-y-yeah. I-I want-ted to give you sss-ss-s-" I had to take in a breath. "-something. Ugh, I **hate** it when I stutter! Sorry." I said. She giggled at me as I brought out the card and I gave it to her. Her expression showed curiosity.

"What's this? Some kind of love letter, you're **bold**." she teased.

My eyes widened. "N-no! It's not like that-"

"But don't you want it like that?"

My face turned red. "Look, back in my hometown February 14th is known as Valentine's Day. It is a time where people are supposed to be with those they cherish. Usually Valentine cards are exchanged and the woman receives chocolate and roses. Unfortunately my pay doesn't get me to afford them, but I would've given them to you if I could."

"What does it mean to be someone's Valentine?" she asked me.

"I'm honestly not too sure. I actually hate Valentine's Day since I would always see couples together and I was so used to being alone to the point where I preferred being alone that I developed a hatred of Valentine's Day. When I came to Vale I wanted to start anew, and I got to meet you in the process. Since we have been talking to each other over these past few months – and you're the first woman I have been able to talk to for more than three minutes – I thought that you would like to be my Valentine. If I had to describe it, being someone's Valentine is like a having a boyfriend or girlfriend without actually being in that kind of relationship. It's hard for me to explain since I'm not used to doing this sort of thing."

Cinder looked at the card I made before she placed it in her bag. "Well it was really sweet of you to do this for me, Opals. Thank you." She gave me a sweet smile that made me blush.

"You're welcome. Sorry it isn't much. I wasn't sure if Vale did anything like this and I wanted to try and introduce it to others." I said while scratching the back of my head.

"I have a question, though. A hypothetical one" Cinder asked me.

"What is it?"

"Would you like it if we were boyfriend and girlfriend?"

 _[Flashback end]_

* * *

"What did you say?" Saga asked me.

"I said I don't know. She simply nodded and after a couple of minutes she left." I said with slight grimace.

"Why didn't you tell her?" he asked.

"It's because I'm still afraid of her!" I slightly raised my voice. Saga was surprised by my sudden outburst. I took in a breath. "There is something about her I am unsure of, and I don't know if she is like that. Because of it my mental and emotional states leave me distraught. I've been trying to figure out the answer for quite some time."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out." Saga said as we got up to leave. "There is one thing I want you to do, though."

"What's that?"

"When you figure it out, tell her; and **please** try to figure it out before we go to Beacon. You might not be able to see her for a long time." He left with those words for me to take in as he left the cave. I turned towards one of the larger candles I had and I gazed into the fire.

"Let's hope I figure it out soon." I said to myself. I put out the remaining candles and torches and left the cave.

* * *

 **[Author's Comments]**

 **[1]** **Keep in mind I did watch RTX irl, but not at the time of this fic. I would think that what was actually shown at RTX would be what this version of me would imagine to be shown. I didn't want to just have what I actually saw at RTX be fact in this fic.**

* * *

 **So I'm going to stop here this time. I hope you enjoyed this Chapter as it took me a bit for me to write it. Me with cheesecake is like Ruby with cookies or Nora with pancakes; just to show how much I love cheesecake.**

 **As far as everything else goes, I am actually still accepting OCs for this story. I didn't want to be asking people in every Chapter of this fic for requests, but for those who have been with this story for a while and are curious about it you can still send me some. At the time of me writing this – October 7th 2015 at 12:16 AM EST – I have a grand total of three submitted OCs. I'm not really looking for any kind of specific OC or have a set of criteria, it's just whoever you got. You can submit more than one and I will do my best to place your OC in my story.**

 **With that this has been TheTriforceofAwesomeness and I will see you in Chapter 10.**

 **Peace!**


	10. Testing a new technique

**Chapter 10: Testing a new technique**

* * *

 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. All other mentioned franchises belong to their respective owners. I own nothing but my OC.**

* * *

 **(December 5, 2015) Don't worry I haven't forgotten about this fic. It has just been a while since I wrote due to finals coming up and me just being busy. I want to discuss a few things regarding this story before actually getting into it.**

 **I am going to have all the stuff at Beacon begin in about 3 or 4 more Chapters as there are a couple more things I need to take care of. When I do start Beacon, the point of view this story will take will be very different from what I have done so far. As this is a self-insert story, I wanted to make this resemble me as much as I can. With this in mind, self-insert me will not be talking a whole lot during my time at Beacon. This is because in school I was the kind of person who would keep to myself and avoid people as much as I could. I also would not contribute to the class all that much and I would barely study. Even though this story is from my perspective, having me not say a whole lot of things would make for boring Chapters. Most of the point of views would be from Saga or my other teammates and it is possible that I may not be in a Chapter at all given to how I am.**

 **In terms of the romance it will be there and it will be difficult, but interesting for me to write since I have no romantic experience at all. I have been thinking about whether or not I want to have lemons in this story and I have decided to not add any. Even if I got someone to write them for me, it just doesn't sit well with me. That doesn't mean I can't make the occasional innuendo ;)**

 **The focus of this Chapter is going to be about me trying out a new technique. The technique is going to be the Flash Step from the _Bleach_ anime as it is an anime I have taken an interest in. However, since self-insert me did not watch _Bleach_ before coming to Remnant, the Flash Step will be something I will quote-unquote "make up" similar to how self-insert me "theorized" that _RWBY Volume 3_ would be about the tournament without actually knowing. This Chapter will explain why self-insert me wants to know Flash Step.**

 **I am not sure if _Bleach_ explains the usage of Flash Step or what needs to be done to learn it, so self-insert me will come up with a reason or theory as to how it works. This by no means is the way Flash Step works. If any _Bleach_ fans can give me their thoughts as to how Flash Step works it would be most appreciated.**

 **I am still accepting OC submissions. You can submit more than one and I will try to add your OC to my story. I mainly need OCs for teams, but you can make them Hunters/Beacon Professors, villains, etc. You can send me a PM with your OCs or if you leave your OC submissions in a review, you can collaborate with other people who reviewed as well and maybe form a team. If an OC team is made, they don't have to be associated with Beacon as I can add them to the tournament as well. If you want you can make an entire OC team of your own. Last time I checked for OC submissions I only have three, so more would me nice. All you really need to do is give me some basic information of your OCs.**

 **With all that said, let's get to it!**

* * *

 **(December 15, 2015) Well, college is done for now and I have an entire month off! So this means I can put more time into writing. Also, I will now have all of my story updates on my Facebook Page. The link is located in my Profile, so I would recommend that you would go like that page. Plus, you can get in contact with me through there as well.**

* * *

"Speech"

 _Thought_

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Narration** /Log_

 _[Flashback]_

 _{Letters/Notes}_

 **[#] Author's Comments which will be shown at the official end of the Chapter and before the ending A/N.**

* * *

 _Opallios's Log_

 _Well, I only have about 7 more months before I have to go to Beacon. Master has been training me to fight and I've also been using Black Lightning on practice dummies as well as The Messenger on the target rings I have set up behind my waterfall. The potions are coming out well, but I am nervous that I am not prepared for any situation. Sometimes I wish I had Saga's Pocket Dimension Semblance so I can carry my potions safely. I'm fine with keeping them in my cave for the time being._

 _I am still unsure what my feelings are for Cinder, but I think I'm starting to realize **something** is definitely there._

 _I want to try out something new, but this could very much threaten my life. If my theory is correct, I need to keep my body in shape for this to be able to work._

* * *

I wiped the sweat off of my brow as I surveyed my handiwork. Earlier on this Tuesday morning I decided to go for a jog/hike through the forest. I jogged to the waterfall and to the lake. I jogged around the lake five times before heading back to the cabin. I did have to kill a few Grimm during this jog that has become part of my routine, but as per usual they were only Beowolves. I did encounter a few Boarbatusks every so often, but they were rare. After a quick shower I headed back out and grabbed the wood-cutting axe and chopped down a few trees. I then had to cut the downed trees into smaller portions to get to the reasonable size I was aiming for. My body was aching from the labor I was putting myself through, but I powered through it as I really wanted to try this technique I thought of last week.

* * *

 _[Sometime last week]_

I was pacing around the cabin stroking my goatee. I heard Master come downstairs and he looked at me with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What's on your mind, Opals?" he asked me.

Snapping out of my daze, I looked at him and smiled while scratching the back of my head. "I was thinking of a way to increase my ground speed using my aura. I already have a decent treeline travel and water-walking has become much easier, but I have nothing for something like rooftops. I do have a theory I want to put into practice, but it's risky."

Master cocked an eyebrow. "What makes this theory of yours so dangerous?"

"My theory is that I can release my aura in short bursts so I can move faster than the eye can follow. The goal of this technique is to get from Point A to Point B in as few steps as possible." I explained as I made air-quotes when I said steps. "I don't really know what to call this technique, but I'll just go with Flash Step. If I were to use Flash Step, then it would give me a way to escape from dangerous situations and give me a method of ground movement. There are problems which arise with Flash Step: I may not know where I am going to end up; I could release too much aura at once; there could be internal damages to my organs from the sudden starts and stops with each Flash Step; there is also a possibility as to how many Flash Steps I can use as it does use my aura; the list goes on."

"If this Flash Step is so dangerous, then why even try to learn it?" he asked me not convinced with my explanation.

"I move slower while I wear my armor and I would like to try and escape from dangerous situations with as little damage as I can sustain. If there is someone who needs my help I can reach them as long as I can sense their aura. I can then use Flash Step to reach them as quickly as possible. Being able to move quickly even in my armor will give me the speed advantage I'm missing. However, Flash Step can be tracked by people who can see faster than normal or who can sense aura. I just think Flash Step would be useful." I explained. Master was silent as he seemed to be thinking on this.

"I am still unsure about this, but I think it can be considered useful. I want you to go ahead and keep your body in shape before you even try to use Flash Step. Judging by your explanation, Flash Step seems to involve being able to be light on your feet as well as having control over your aura. I want you to add jogs to your morning routine as well as to your combat practices. I also want you to make an obstacle course to help with your footwork so you can find a balance with your aura control. If you feel like you are going to be in any and I mean **any** kind of pain, I want you to stop immediately. Do I make myself **clear**?"

"Crystal, Master!" I said with a goofy smile on my face and a mock salute. I immediately began to go and work on keeping my body in shape for the upcoming task of learning Flash Step.

 _[End Flashback]_

* * *

I set up what was essentially a parkour course so I could practice and judge my footwork while adding a little challenge as well. There were various logs step up for me to jump to and quickly climb. I studied the course I made and sighed. _Even though this is more of a controlled environment, I have to start somewhere._ I stretched my body before I ran the course. To make a long story short, I failed a lot of times and lost my footing on more than one occasion. Bruises and cuts formed along my body as I wanted to practice the course without my armor. I knew that practicing in my armor was going to make the course more difficult and I wanted to see how it would be if I didn't have my armor activated. I would practice this until my body felt like collapsing onto the ground. That eventually happened and I looked up at the sky with the clouds passing over the trees. There was a comfortable silence with the wind passing over me and I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't let the cuts on my body get infected. I begrudgingly got up and made my way over to my pack and after a bit of searching I pulled out a small red healing potion. I took a swig of the warm liquid and I could feel my cuts starting to close up. I decided to let my aura heal the bruises on my body. I trotted back to where I was lying down earlier and flopped onto the grass a relaxing sigh escaped my lips. Resuming my staring at the sky, my eyes slowly began to close. Almost instinctively the lighting Dust inside me activated to provide its protective barrier as I drifted off into sleep.

I decided to wake up all of a sudden. I had no idea how long I was out for, but judging from the position of the sun in the sky I would say I slept for at least a few hours. Doing my best to wipe off the grass on my jeans as I stood up, I ran my makeshift parkour course until I was tired. I noticed I was getting better at it despite the fact it had only been a few hours of me practicing. When I felt the familiar exhaustion in my body, I took another break. Instead of me running the course again, I decided to work with Black Lightning and The Messenger. With Black Lightning, I was getting better at hitting certain parts of the practice dummy. Hard thunk sounds of the head hitting the wood were made as I tried to not waste a whole lot of energy. Master taught me that using a mace is more than just putting a lot of power into a swing. He has been telling me that I needed to figure out how much power I put into an attack as well as try to minimize my body's movements so I wasn't telegraphing my attacks. Memories of our one-sided sparing matches came to mind as I kept at the dummy.

* * *

 _[Flashback to a sparing match]_

I asked Master if he could teach me some things about using my mace in combat against a skilled opponent and he almost too enthusiastically agreed. We headed into the back and he had his bastard sword drawn and I had my mace and shield ready.

"Now I know that this is just a simple sparring match, but I want you to come at me with everything you got. You shouldn't expect your enemy to go easy on you, unless they underestimate you. Think of this as a life or death match. If you don't come at me with everything you have, you will be in trouble." Master instructed me. I nodded as I placed my shield over my midsection and held my mace at my right side.

Master came at me in almost a blur as I barely had enough time to block the strike. Despite the fact that I had a shield and armor on, the force of the blow was enough to put strain on my shield arm. I tried to strike with my mace at any part of his body, but he was able to block the attack with his sword. I then tried to shield bash him, but he simply took a few steps back. I went for an overhead swing at his shoulder, but he moved to the side and then tried to slash me at my neck. I quickly brought up my shield and the attack bounced off it, but I took a few steps back. Master continued his assault and I did my best to block or parry as many attacks as I could, but my aura was taking a beating. I took a glimpse at it and I saw it was in the mid-yellow while Master's aura was barely gone. Gritting my teeth, I used one of my lightning attacks to drive him back and even though I knew it would cost some of my remaining aura, I couldn't give up now. I proceeded to go ahead and charge him with my shield raised and my mace held close to my body as I tried my best to have my own assault. To say I failed horribly would be an understatement. After only four attacks he was able to knock my mace out of my hands as it flew in the air and landed a few feet behind me. Not breaking eye-contact with him, I brought out me second shield as I tried my best to hold him off without my weapon. His attacks were hitting really hard and my aura was almost red. I charged a tiny bit of lightning into my shields which forced Master to take a couple of steps back, and in that time I pulled out The Messenger and fired two bolts at him. He was able to deflect the first bolt, but the second one grazed his shoulder slightly. I continued to quickly reload and fire a few more shots at him as I made my way over to my mace. Master's clothing had various holes and cuts from the amount of bolts I was firing, but his aura just now reached the high-yellow. I was able to get to my mace, but as soon as I picked her up I felt a sweeping kick to my stomach. I made a small grunt as I was launched and smacked my back into a tree. I knew my aura was either in low red or was completely gone. I slumped down on the ground as I was barely able to keep my eyes open. Through my blurred vision I saw that Master's sword was at my throat thus ending the spar.

I yielded and Master brought out a free hand to help me up. I stumbled as I tried to stand on my own, but I had to lean on Master for support. Master had a small smile as he walked me over to sit down on a tree stump. It took all of my willpower to keep myself awake. I heard his footsteps quickly walk away from me only for him to come back a few moments later.

"Here, drink this." he told me. My mind knew it was one of my aura potions due to its foul smell and I drank the lukewarm and bitter-tasting liquid. My mind wishing I could brew an aura potion that didn't smell so bad. I could feel my aura slightly improve a bit faster than normal, but it would be hardly noticeable. I regained full consciousness and met my Master's gaze.

"Looks like I still need to improve." I said with a sigh.

"Oh yeah, no doubt about that. Your skill **seriously** needs work." Master said dryly. My pride was hurt a bit, but I knew I needed to improve in order for me to survive. "But you didn't do all **that** bad to be honest." I felt slightly reassured.

"What things should I improve on?" I asked him.

"Well, your stance needs to be better. You telegraph your attacks too much. You also rely a bit too much on your defenses to have a balance of offense. It's almost like you would rather not attack at all." he said with his arms crossed.

"I'm still trying to get used to fighting." I said with a shrug.

"I know, but you are going to have to fight and be aggressive about it if you want to survive. As far as other things you need to work on, try to switch up your attacks. I know using a mace may give you a limited set of attack patterns, but there are ways to make the style varied so you can have the upper hand." he said. "You did really well utilizing your lightning Dust to drive me back a few times as well as use your crossbow to keep me at bay while you went for your mace. In a one on one confrontation like that, it was a smart move. Keep in mind doing that won't always work as there are plenty of Hunters who are faster than I am." I smiled at his small praise, happy that I did at least something right. Master placed a hand on my shoulder. "I want you to work on keeping a good offense and defense on the practice dummies. Use both of your hands to mix up styles and try to find a way to switch between the two as quickly and/or subtly as possible. You and I will spar again soon so I can see how much you have improved." I nodded as I got up to head inside to go take a shower and catch up on my reading.

 _[End Flashback]_

* * *

Master's words echoed in my head as I proceeded to change my mace from my right hand to my left. It has been a bit since I used my mace in my left hand, so I had to adjust for a bit before I was back with the system I was using. I would practice using either hand for the next few days and I would also find time to get my footwork set for Flash Step.

 **Friday**

It has been a few days since I started my parkour course. Although I knew it hasn't been that long for me practicing, I have been able to complete the course without incident twice. I was still parkouring without my armor, but I knew I would have to use my armor sooner or later. My next run through of the course had me complete it flawlessly for a third time. I wasn't sure if I would try with my armor on or try to Flash Step. I thought about it and I decided to go and try it with armor before I attempt to Flash Step. Activating my armor, I tried to run through the course. As I figured it was a lot harder to complete due to the added weight. It took me a few tries, but I was able to complete the course once without a misstep. I figured the reason I was able to get it done a lot quicker than I did was because my memorization of the course. Pretty soon I was able to complete it with my armor four times. My aura wasn't looking too good, so I decided to take a break. Deactivating my armor, I went into the cabin to read some books. The book I decided to read was { _Mace Etiquette}_.

 _{_ _Warriors sometimes make the mistake of thinking that there are no tactics with a mace. They assume that the sword is all about skill and the mace is only about strength and stamina. As a veteran instructor of mace tactics, I can tell you they are wrong._

 _Wielding a mace properly is all about timing and momentum. Once the swing of the mace has begun, stopping it or slowing it down is difficult. The fighter is committed to not just the blow, but also the recoil. Begin your strike when the opponent is leaning forward, hopefully off balance. It is completely predictable that he will lean backward, so aim for a point behind his head. By the time the mace gets there, his head will be in it's path._

 _The mace should be held at the ready, shoulder high. The windup should not extend past the shoulders by more than a hand's width. When swinging, lead with the elbow. As the elbow passes the height of your collarbone, extend the forearm like a whip. The extra momentum will drive the mace faster and harder, causing far more damage._

 _At the moment of impact, let the wrist loosen. The mace will bounce and hurt a stiff wrist. Allow the recoil of the blow to drive the mace back into the ready position, thereby preparing the warrior for a quicker second strike.}_

That was all that was in this short book, but it did make me think about how to wield my mace. I re-read the book until I have committed it to my memory for future use as well as when I practice with Black Lightning. I went ahead and decided to read some of my Sci-Fi books to pass the time until I felt tired. I made a mental note to go and try to Flash Step the next day.

 **Saturday**

I waited until around eight in the morning to try and attempt to Flash Step. Master was leaning against the side of the cabin to see what I was going to do. Even after I stretched my body, I was incredibly nervous since this would be something I haven't done before. The possible negative repercussions weighed in my mind as I stood there thinking if is was even a good idea. _You know what? I'll do it! I spent all that time parkouring, I want to see the results of that._ I nodded to myself and took in a deep breath.

I focused my aura around my body. I could feel its energy swirling within me. Taking in one more breath, I shot open my eyes and took my first 'step'. As soon as I released the stored energy, my body lurched forward. When I stopped, my nose was right in front of a tree. My eyes widened in surprise and I fell back from startling myself. I looked at my body and realized I was alive, but my stomach was **not** feeling good at all. My vision blurred for a bit before I felt something trying to leave my throat. Emptying the contents of my stomach, I heard Master approaching me.

"Holding up well?" he asked me. I didn't immediately answer for obvious reasons.

"I'm alive at least." I answered groggily.

"I'm not so sure you should try this again if it produced those kind of results." he said with a bit of concern.

"I just need to get used to it. Granted I'm not going to immediately try it again, but I may have something here. I **did** travel pretty far for my first attempt." I said while running my fingers through the curls in my hair.

"That may be true, but I want you to take a break before trying this again." Master told me with a stern but warm expression. I nodded happily and Master left me to my own devices.

I walked over to a tree far away from my vomit and leaned against it. I looked up into the sky and watched the clouds slowly go by. I decided to slump against the tree while I was still looking at the sky, and my eyes slowly began to close as I took in the serenity of the forest.

I didn't know how much time went by, but I felt that I was ready to give this a second try. This time I decided to store a bit less aura than my first attempt so I wouldn't damage myself. When I released the energy, I once again felt my body move on its own. Once again I was face-to-face with a tree, but this time my stomach wasn't hurting. I did however feel tired after this attempt. I pulled out my Scroll to check on my aura and it was a yellowish-green in color which I guess it meant I didn't use a whole lot. I thought about trying this again since my aura was still pretty high. I stored up my aura again and released it and once again I nearly hit a tree, but this time I was able to go even farther than the previous attempts. I checked my aura again and I saw I was in the solid yellow area. I turned around and focused my aura sensing to lock on to the cabin and tried a couple more steps. I nearly smacked myself into the side of the cabin, but I noticed I took three steps to reach here even though where I started was only two. I realized my aura must be low at this point if it took me longer to get back than where I started. My Scroll reading my aura to be in the orange-red zone confirmed my suspicions. I sighed as I felt I wasn't really making that much progress, but considering I was actually able to perform the technique and not vomit or even feel any internal pain meant I was doing well. I decided to take another break to let my aura recharge before making any more attempts. I was able to perform this technique about five more times with each attempt using up more of my time to let my aura recharge to a respectable level. It was almost dark by the time I finished and I was exhausted. I headed inside to go and take a shower before heading off to bed.

 **Mid-April**

By the time the middle of April came around, I pretty much got Flash Step down. Over the past six weeks I was practicing my Flash Step as well as doing everything else and it had kept me very busy. So much so I haven't been able to speak with Saga or Cinder as well as not be able to work at my part-time job. I didn't want to neglect Saga and Cinder since they are really the only people I am comfortable to be around and I really need the money to buy the stuff I'm going to need for Beacon so the job is just as important. I made a mental note to myself to get in contact with Saga and Cinder whenever I can. I was busy firing my crossbow when I felt my Scroll buzz in my pocket. I looked at who was calling me and I paled. _Shit! Cinder's calling. I better answer quick._ I placed my Scroll up against my ear.

"Hi, Cinder. What's up?"

"What have you been doing?" was her question. "You haven't been talking to me for weeks! I was afraid you forgot about me." she sounded really hurt so I did my best to explain.

"I'm really sorry. I've been training constantly so I am somewhat prepared to go to Beacon. I really haven't had time to do much of anything else. Is there anything I can do to make up for lost time?"

There was silence on the other end. Cinder then responded. "I want to see your progress."

"Huh?" I asked. "You want to see how I am doing?"

"Yes." Cinder answered. I could almost feel her smirking at me. "If you say you are training, then I want to know what kind of progress you have made. I **am** a Huntress after all. Also I can't have you do something stupid, you're too-" she stopped.

"I'm what?" I asked completely ignoring the part about her being a Huntress.

"I need you to meet me at this place." I saw where she wanted me to be. "Don't be late, idiot." she hung up. I stared at the coordinates she left me as they were not too far from where I currently was. A thought just occurred to me as I began to pack up my weapons.

 _Did she just pull a tsundere on me? Is she worried about me?_ These thoughts weighed on my mind as I walked into the cabin.

"Master, I need to go and be somewhere. You don't mind if I leave?" I called out.

"Where are you going, exactly?" he asked me.

"A friend of mine wants to see how I am doing with my training as a way to make up for not spending time with her." I explained. As soon as I said that he gave me a teasing grin.

" **Her** you say? I didn't know you had a girlfriend."

"She isn't my girlfriend," I exclaimed. "...she is a friend who I find to be admittedly attractive." I finished in a low voice.

Master's smile only grew. "I know you like her. You just have trouble expressing your feelings towards her. Sounds to me she doesn't want to lose you." I shook my head and turned to head towards the door. "Don't get pussy-whipped! Go for it!" he suddenly shouted which caused my face to nearly turn pink with embarrassment.

" **Shut the fuck up!** " I shouted even though I could still feel my face burning. Master only laughed at me as I tried to concentrate on Cinder's aura. It took me a bit to locate it, but once I did I Flash Stepped over to her. Suddenly my vision went dark and it felt like my face was against something soft. _If this is what I think this is..._ I thought with dread.

"I know it's been awhile since we last saw each other, but I didn't think you would be **this** desperate for my affection." Cinder said with a tease.

 _ **Shit.**_

* * *

 **(December 21, 2015) Chapter 10 is done! I'm so excited to be back with this story! I hope you all enjoyed it!**

 **For those of you that don't already know, I will now have all Fanfiction story updates be on my Facebook Page. There is a link located on my Profile page.**

 **I also have uploaded the first Chapter of my very first Cross-over. It is between _RWBY_ and the video game _Dust: An Elysian Tail_.**

 **That is pretty much it. This has been TheTriforceofAwesomeness and I will be back with Chapter 11!**

 **Peace!**


	11. I get stupidly owned

**Chapter 11: I get stupidly owned**

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 **RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. All other mentioned franchises belong to their respective owners.**

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 **(January 3, 2016) Holy crap! The amount of OCs submissions and new follows/favorites for this story is absolutely amazing! I have to keep a separate document just for all of the OC submissions I have gotten.**

 **Now, as I stated in a deleted A/N which was the placeholder for this Chapter, I have once again not grasped the concept of time. In case any of you forgot, I made it so I would have a 2-year training arc before I would start all of the Beacon stuff. In Chapter 10, I stated that I only had 7 months before I would go to Beacon and I was going to start Beacon in around 3-4 Chapters. This is a HUGE mistake on my part since it hasn't even been a year in the story. In fact this Chapter will signify the end of the first year.**

 **To deal with this, I asked you all to help me decide where I should go with this, and you all said I should create maybe 6-8 Chapters to detail the missing year of training. The thing I'm going to have to do now is try to figure out what I am going to be doing in certain Chapters so they all don't blend in with each other.**

 **Speaking of Beacon, there is something I am a bit confused about. I'm actually confused with how much time has passed in RWBY. The show is supposed to have the cast go through 4 years of being at the school, and Volume 2 was the start of their second semester. With Volume 3 being about the tournament, are team's RWBY and JNPR still first-years or have they moved up? I want to assume they are still first-years, but I can't say for sure.**

 **In terms of Beacon and this story, I am going to attempt to incorporate all 4-years of my time at Beacon, but since the show has not really delved into the differences between the different grades, it is unclear as to what I will be doing in my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years. I figured that missions will become more difficult and there may be some classes exclusive to certain grades, but once again it is unknown. I'll just wing it.**

 **As far has how long this entire story is going to be, I am honestly not really sure. It really all depends on how much I am going to show in this story and how detailed it will be. I have seen a lot of long-running fics get into the mid-40s, while some have reached 100+, so I guess I'm not too worried about it.**

 **As far as OC submissions are concerned, I am still accepting. If I am unable to have your OC be in this story, then I could add that person to the eventual sequel of The Hunter from Earth.**

 **Sorry for the long A/N. Let's get started!**

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 **(March 23, 2016) Geez it has been forever since I last sat in front of my laptop to type this out. Feels like I'm blowing dust off of my screen. Well, I'm back and I hope the wait wasn't too bad. It's been so long I can't even recall what I was originally going to do with this story. Hopefully being back in front of the keyboard will jog my memory.**

* * *

"Speech"

 _Thought_

 **Emphasis**

'Air Quotes'

 _ **Narration** /Log_

[Flashback]

{Letters/Books}

In-Universe places within a larger area

 _Reference to an Earth-thing_

 **[#] Author's Comments which is at the official end of the Chapter, but before the ending A/N**

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 _ **Last time on RWBY: The Hunter from Earth.**_

 _ **Opallios was training himself to learn a new movement technique known as the Flash Step. While training, he received a call from Cinder and she was upset with him since he hasn't talked to her in weeks. After he explained to her that he was busy training, Cinder wanted to see his progress in the form of a sparing match. Opallios made his way over to her via the Flash Step. This is what happens.**_

* * *

I tried to concentrate on Cinder's aura. It took me a bit to locate it, but once I did I Flash Stepped over to her. Suddenly my vision went dark and it felt like I was against something soft. _If this is what I think this is..._ I felt like Death was going to claim my soul.

"I know it's been awhile since we last saw each other, but I didn't think you would be **this** desperate for my affection." Cinder said with a tease.

 _ **Shit.**_ That was the one word that came to my mind, and as soon as I realized what it was I pushed myself off of her. I landed on my back with a thud and I looked up at Cinder. She was standing over me with a teasing smirk on her face. _Why do I feel turned-on - **god damn it Saga! I swear the next time I see you I am going to punch you!**_ I could feel my cheeks heating up.

"Pleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmefortheloveofgod **don'tkillme**!" I begged. All she did was laugh in a dominatrix sort of way, which made me pale at the thought of her being someone like that. The look in her eyes didn't make me feel better at all.

"Relax. I know you didn't do this on purpose. I am surprised as to how quickly you showed up. Care to explain why?"

"New technique." I replied as I picked myself off of the ground.

"I see." There was a bit of silence. "Mind telling me **why** you haven't called me in weeks?"

I held my hands up in defense. "I've been training. I start Beacon in a..." I stopped.

"What's wrong?" Her face showed concern.

"Fucking-hell." was my response. Cinder looked at me with surprise. Seeing her expression, I tried to stay calm. "Sorry. It's just that I realize how much of an idiot I am." I said while I rubbed the back of my neck. "I have a tendency to not grab long concepts of time. I **just** realized that I have an extra year before I am supposed to attend Beacon. I am going to be 21 when I enter Beacon; and during my first-year, I would turn 22. So I'm just being a dumb-butt." I chuckled.

Cinder looked at me with her arms crossed. "Does this mean I can't rely on you to remember certain days?"

I looked at her confused. "You can rely on me for that, as certain days will be of considerable importance to me than others." Cinder seemed to be satisfied with my answer.

"We can talk more about this later, **after** I see if you are true to your claim of your 'training'." It was then she pulled out a couple of weapons. They seemed to be a couple of blades.

 _Huh? Her weapons are different. Are these what she used to use before she got her powers? **Does** she even have any of those fire attacks?_

 **~Cinder~**

I went ahead and pulled out my weapon, and the look on Opals's face looked so adorable. Not that I would openly admit that to him. _But the way he's tilting his head like a puppy is so cute._ I mentally shook the thought out of my head.

"Do your weapons have a name?" he asked me as if he didn't either notice his gesture or notice my possible reaction.

"Yeah. Jekyll and Hyde."

"Nice." He then activated something and he was covered in some kind of suit of armor.

"What's with the armor?" I asked.

"I'll explain later." He then brought out a black mace and flicked his left wrist to bring out a shield. _This is going to be fun._

He then charged at me with his mace held close and his shield raised. He went for a side attack, but I blocked it with my blade. He tried going for a shield bash, but I dodged out of the way. Most of his attacks I was dodging with ease. _His form is lacking, but it's not completely bad._ I made for a jab at his side, but he blocked it. _Interesting._ I leaped backwards and placed my blades in its bow form. He seemed surprised by this and he leaped back as well. I fired a couple of shots, but he rolled out of the way and he pulled out a crossbow from nowhere and returned fire. I rolled out of the way of one, but I almost got hit by his second shot. We then began firing at one another. _His skill with that crossbow is impressive. It seems to be a single bolt action, but he can fire multiple shots in rapid succession._ A bolt nearly grazed my cheek. He seemed to go straight for me, but his mace was in his opposite hand. He was able to strike me near my hip. My aura took the hit for me. Ambidextrous _, huh?_ I rolled to a stop and switched to duel-wielding. Charging at him, I dealt a flurry of strikes. He was trying his best to dodge, but couldn't. I was able to strike him along his shoulder and chest area which caused him to stumble. Seeing an opening, I went for other points along his body, but to my surprise, he blocked them both. I looked at him in the eye and what I saw was confidence.

"Surprised?" he asked me. He then pushed me back and went for a couple of overhead swings, but I was able to dodge them. I tried to slice him, but again he was able to block them. _What's going on? He's able to block them more easily, as if he knows my fighting style._ I went back to bow form and proceeded to fire arrows, he was caught off guard and at least five of my arrows made their mark. I didn't know how much aura he had left, but it couldn't be much else. Going back to blade form, I did another flurry of strikes, and he took every single one of them. There was a yellow pulse around his body, signaling his complete aura depletion. He landed on the ground, and I held my blades at his throat. He opened his eyes and saw his situation and groaned in annoyance.

"Looks like I win. Concede."

"I concede." I smirked and took a few steps back as he got up and deactivated his armor. He was covered in sweat and was breathing heavy, but other than that he seemed fine.

 **~Opallios~**

 _Damn, she's strong. Not even my Semblance was doing all that much._

"I'm impressed. You really have been training." Cinder said to me. "Your skill with that crossbow of yours is impressive. I am curious as to how you were able to counter me during the later half of our fight."

I sat down on the cool grass and she walked over to me and sat near me, but not too close. _Probably because I'm all sweaty. Shower once I get back._ "My Semblance allows me to counteract against a fighting style upon being struck; however, it isn't as useful against one with multiple fighting styles as once a different one is used, my Semblance changes to counter the new style and overwrites the old one. So in hindsight I find it to be a risk versus reward kind of thing." I took in a deep breath. "I'm more surprised as to how skilled you are. I wasn't able to do much damage to you." She chuckled.

"That may have been true, but I can tell you have been training. You are getting ready to become a fine Huntsman."

"So what's the verdict?" I asked.

"Hm?"

"Am I telling the truth? Do you still hate me?"

"I never said I hated you, but I do believe you." she answered. "However, **please** try to stay in touch with me. Can you at least do that?"

"I'll do what I can. If I ever have time to rest, I'll try to talk to you." I said. She looked at me as if to see if I was lying, but she then nodded and smiled. "The least I can do now is try to catch up. There isn't anyone else here, and this is a beautiful day."

"Sure. I'd like that." was her response. We then talked about what each of us have been doing since our last conversation. I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but we ended up lying down on our backs in the grass. "What is your reason for fighting?" she asked me.

I rolled over to meet her gaze. "You mean besides me wanting to be a Huntsman?"

"Yeah. This is a very dangerous world we live in. What makes you want to protect it?"

I rolled back over and looked at the clouds rolling by and the sun began to make its decent. "It's the little things in life."

"What do you mean by that?"

I made a content sigh. "A lot of people tend to worry about what goes on in their lives and they have a tendency to view the world as something that has no beauty in it. A place that is bleak and dark, and to an extent they are right. However, I tend to notice a lot of subtle things, the things people normally take for granted. For example, the many sunrises and sunsets always made the sky turn into many different shades of color, the first snowfall in winter how it blankets a forest. The times you spend with the people who matter in your life, the way they react to you." I turned to face Cinder. "With you, your eyes are my favorite thing about you. They seem to glow like a burning fire, and it gives me a sense of warmth."

"You really think my eyes are my best feature?"

I nodded. "The first thing I look in people is their eyes, as I feel their eyes can show more emotion than any other body movement. I also feel one's eyes are a way to see what one's intentions can be. Over the past year, you have gotten me to open myself up a bit more. I am someone who is usually quiet and does his best to avoid people as much as possible. However, meeting you has caused me to be more open with myself and realize some of those subtle things. It's all of those small things in life that make this a life worth living, for I feel that without those small things the world would lose a bit of itself." I heard Cinder sigh.

"Why is it that you tend to be so different from other people I have talked to?" she asked sarcastically. I chuckled.

"I guess I don't view myself as an ordinary person." We both laughed. I looked up back at the sky and saw the hundreds of stars shining. "You know, I never really got the chance to see this many stars in the sky. My hometown used a lot of electricity which would prevent the stars from shining, so I would have to travel outside in order to get this kind of view." Cinder didn't say anything. I turned to look at her, but she was looking up at the sky as well. She seemed to be sleeping. I made a small smile and rose up to stretch. I walked over to her and poked her side. Stirring in her sleep, her eyes fluttered open a few moments later.

"What's going on?" she asked tiredly.

"Seems like you were more tired than I thought you'd be. I think it's time we head back."

"Do we have to? I want to stay here for five more minutes." she responded in a child-like manner.

I shook my head and sighed. "Alright, five more minutes." I went ahead and placed myself near her without even realizing it. Cinder then placed her head next to my shoulder, her dark hair covering most of her face. I moved her hair out of her eyes and looked up at the sky. _Damn it, I've fallen for her._ A small breeze went by and it caused Cinder to shiver of all things, I then decided it was time to take her home. I slowly got up, and I picked her up bridal style before Flash Stepping into Vale.

 **Vale Rooftops**

When I got there, I realized I had no idea where her house was, and I began to panic. I got onto some rooftops of a building to try and get a better view of my area. Cinder once again stirred herself into waking up.

"Where are we?" she asked softly.

"We're in Vale, I'm trying to get you home, but I have no idea where you live."

She smiled despite the fact she was still tired. "Are you trying to win me over with your chivalry?"

"Is it working?" I found myself saying.

"It might be." She lifted her head and looked around. "I recognize this area. My house is down over this way." She proceeded to point somewhere and I headed that way. Every time I made a single Flash Step, Cinder would look around for a bit before pointing to where I should be going. After about my fourth Flash Step, she told me we were right on top of her house. Still carrying her, I jumped down from the roof and landed with my aura taking most of the blow. I winced and held back a curse. "You alright?" she asked me.

"I've been through worse." She looked at me before sighing.

"What am I going to do with you?" she asked herself. I decided not to answer that. "I keep a spare key in the plant pot. I set her down as she walked over to the pot to grab the spare key. She unlocked the door and turned to face me. "Thanks for everything, Opals. It means a lot to me."

"No problem. I can't have you worry about me all of the time." I said with a smile.

Cinder walked over to me and she had me look into her eyes. It was then I felt her lips press against my cheek. "Goodnight, you goofball." she whispered in my ear before closing the door behind her. I stood there, my face feeling like it was on fire, and my fingers slowly brushing the area where she kissed me. _Did that just happen? Did Cinder just do that?_ A wave of emotions were spread throughout my body, before I had a big smile on my face and proceeded to Flash Step back to my 'home.'

 **The Cabin**

I opened the door to find my Master looking at me with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "Looks like you got your ass-kicked, but also got a reward as well."

"Hunter's instinct?" I asked.

"More like I know from experience."

I smirked before heading upstairs to do my nightly routine. As sleep began to take over, my mind began to fill with the thoughts of how far Cinder and I could go and how much of the world would change as a result of it.

* * *

 **(April 22, 2016) Well I'm back again! I know it has been forever since I last wrote. I'm sorry for the long hiatus, but it really feels good to be back.**

 **My goal is to write five more Chapters before starting Beacon, with the last two Chapters being the most important. Which means the other three are going be try and encompass an entire year, but since I feel that there isn't a whole lot for me to really write about there will be time skips. I'll probably make those Chapters really long to make up for it, but not really go into so much detail as I've done with others.**

 **Don't worry, my other stories will be updated as well and I do have a couple more cross-overs planned as well.**

 **This has been TheTriforceofAwesomeness, and I'll be back with Chapter 12.**

 **Peace!**


	12. Update as of Saturday February 2nd 2017

**Update as of Saturday February 2nd 2017**

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 **My god is has been a while since I have done anything. Hey everyone TheTriforceofAwesomeness here with some information to give all of you.**

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 **First off, I want to say that I am REALLY sorry for not updating my stories. Text doesn't even come close to describing the amount of guilt I am experiencing right now.**

 **I am actually debating on creating a YouTube channel dedicated to this whole FanFiction business as a means of providing updates in a verbal form as well as maybe read aloud some of my favorite works on the site or just read my already uploaded stories. Let me know what you all think of that.**

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 **Anyway, the reason as to why I haven't been updating my stories include but are not limited to:**

 **Taking College classes 4 out of the 7 days of every week.**

 **The amount of time for homework that is required for said classes usually takes an average of 5-6 hours.**

 **The emotional stress I experience from not having a job and the lack of self-confidence in myself for trying to find one despite the fact that having a job would help me in the long run but at the same time I am unsure as to what I can even do anymore.**

 **Trying to make YouTube videos for my Channel which at most can take an average of 6-7 hours for one video. I have uploaded a few, but that Channel is also going under the same circumstances as my writing.**

 **Trying to desperately achieve a balance between all of the things I have mentioned above.**

 **Experiencing an unnerving feeling that none of you really care about my writing or have even forgotten about me which fills me up with even more guilt that I am not providing content to you all who may or may not care. It doesn't help me emotionally that every so often I get 1-2 people finding my stories and it makes me feel that they expect a Chapter out soon despite the fact that it has been a while.**

 **The guilt I feel when I am realizing that I haven't updated in almost a year and it makes me question my own personal credibility as a writer and makes me question myself if this is all worthwhile.**

 **Viewing myself as a person who lives for feedback on everything that I put out on the internet and expecting feedback so I can see if I can improve myself and not receiving anything. This leads me to believe that I really don't need improvement, but it also makes me hypocritical as how I am expectant of others and seem to disregard my own expectations or the possible expectations of what others expect of me which in turn repeats the cycle of uncertainty and hopelessness.**

 **Coming up with even more stories and possible crossovers that I am not even sure if I should upload or keep on the back-burner in order to try to update my current stories. The amount I currently have in-progress are maybe 3-4 potential works.**

 **Worrying about the point of when I want to move out of my current house, but also knowing that I am really not doing much to achieve that.**

 **Not sure as to what I want to do when I graduate from college.**

 **The overall lack of self-confidence in myself as a person and as a writer, YouTuber, and a friend.**

 **Worrying about my friends who I haven't contacted in half a decade because I feel like they are too busy with their own lives to give a shit about me.**

 **Questioning my place in this life as I more often than not feel empty, inadequate, and uncaring about my accomplishments as I feel that whatever I try to do I just know that someone just does it better.**

 **And so much more stuff that I don't even know if I want to get into.**

* * *

 **So that is what has been going on. School, Life, and Personal Issues. I do hope that I can update at least one of my stories sometime this year and maybe even complete one of them. At this point I don't even know anymore.**

 **I'm honestly surprised that my stories are somehow not removed from the site after a certain period of inactivity. If anyone has details on that kind of stuff and is willing to share that information with me it can help ease my mind** **.**

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 **I think that's all I really have to say, so I hope that I will see you all again soon.**


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